Good Luck Charm
by CheckRaise
Summary: Takeru's a young poker prodigy, so he definitely shouldn't be results-oriented. But things definitely seem to go his way when Hikari's nearby. And when you're playing for millions, why take the chance? AU, TaKari, poker fic.
1. Drawing Dead

Good Luck Charm

Takeru's a young poker prodigy, so he definitely shouldn't be results-oriented. But things definitely seem to go his way when Hikari's nearby. And when you're playing for millions, why take the chance? AU, TaKari, poker fic.

OOO

I haven't written Digimon fics in a few years, but I feel like returning for awhile, and I feel like writing a bit of an odd fic. So to lead off, I'll say that this fic is largely about poker, as I have a bit of a passion for the game, and feel like writing some fic about it. There will be other things going on, like some TaKari building and some other assorted drama, but the core of this fic is poker. There are no digimon or references to digimon in this fic.

I'm rating this fic T for some language, some violence, some adult situations, and some sexual content.

Personally, I usually don't care for fics like this, and I don't usually care for AUs, but I'll try to come at things from an original angle and hope it works out. This alternate universe is a mismash of eras with elements plucked from various times, without anything overly tight to define it. There will be some translation conventions to make some things easier to understand (most noticably with currency), but this isn't any particular time period as we know it, with some things borrowed from various times throughout history on Earth.

I have another FFN account I've written fics on for many years, but I wanted to post this one on a secondary account for assorted reasons.

I don't own Digimon.

OOO

Chapter One: Drawing Dead

"I want a thousand ears in each cart," came the booming voice. "That's not a general guideline, that's an exact number. Stack it neat, keep track of it, keep count. Count gets off, things get confusing down the line. And when things get confusing down the line, I'm the one who makes sure you suffer ten times more than the people down the line do."

Hikari stumbled through the dirt, arms wrapped around a small collection of husk-covered corn ears, towards the large wooden cart. Hurrying as she began to lose her grip on the harvested food, she just barely made it to the lip of the cart before haphazardly dumping them on top of a large pile of corn.

"Hey!" Yuto snapped, rounding on her. "What did I just say?!"

Without saying a word, Hikari leaned over the edge of the cart, frantically grabbing the ears she had just dumped and neatly stacking them next to the others, hands moving as quickly as possible, trying to pretend like her pusher wasn't towering over her.

"You don't do much of anything well, do you?" he asked. She remained mute, pushing the corn into the proper position and quickly standing up. She was forced to look at her pusher as he appraised her. "Yeah, I've noticed, I have eyes."

Hikari wanted to scurry off back into the field of cornstalks, but had a bad feeling Yuto wasn't just making a couple casual jeers in an effort to speed her up. So she just stood there. Unconsciously, her head turned to the right and glanced over her shoulder, quickly jerking her head back forward to look at Yuto.

"Seriously?" He gestured over Hikari's shoulder. "What, you looking for your brother? Seriously? I'm standing here, talking to you, and your head's in the god damn clouds?" He shook his head. "This is the crap I have to work with out here?"

"I...I'm sorry, sir," Hikari said quietly, throat tightening with every second that passed by, praying that this might just go away in the next few seconds.

"What do you think your brother would do anyway? You think he can help you?" He scowled at her. "God damn, you're lucky we're up against a deadline here." He looked around, noting that several of the other field workers had stopped to watch the growing scene. "Hey!" he yelled out. "Just because this girl's sandbagging doesn't mean everyone else gets to get away with it! Go on!" He turned to look back at Hikari. "You too, move it!"

Hikari internally sighed in relief, knowing that circumstances had just barely managed to get her out of what would likely have been an hour's worth of sweating followed by a day's worth of punishment. She jogged back into the giant field of cornstalks, relieved to be able to disappear from the sightline of Yuto for a few moments. Knowing he was probably counting the seconds, she began quickly filling her arms with corn ears.

This was ridiculous for multiple reasons, though bringing any of them up would earn her a week's punishment. A small wheeled container or even a simple basket for each slave would drastically increase the efficiency of the harvest. It was as if the field work was designed to be a punishment for the slaves, everything being made as difficult and exhausting as possible, even at the cost of slowed progress. Even something as simple as a pair of shoes would make things move along quicker.

Most absurd was the fact that Hikari was out here at all. Twenty years old, small and slim, it took all of two seconds to determine that she was made for indoor work. To put her out in the field, doing hard manual labor, was like using a violin to dig a hole. It made absolutely no sense.

Her previous masters, unkind and cruel they might have been, at least understood that much. She even found herself looking back on those first nineteen years of her life fondly. It was a paradise compared to this. Preparing and cleaning up after meals, keeping the rooms immaculately clean, setting up house party decorations...at least she could do all that. Sometimes, her task was as easy as sitting in the corner, looking decent, and being ready to jump up whenever someone wanted something.

Hido and the Sasaki family, her new masters, didn't think about such things, and so, the square peg would keep trying to get into the round hole. Day's like today were bad enough, as Hikari clearly lagged behind everyone else during harvesting, but it would sometimes be much worse. Sometimes she would be tasked with plowing the field, dragging a large, heavy tool of wood and metal through the dirt, barely able to make any progress no matter how she pulled. As if amused, Hido would refuse to give the job to someone more capable, just watching as she inched along. As soon as she finished, she knew she'd be punished for taking too long, but the longer she took to finish the worse the punishment would be, trapping her in a no-win scenario. A similar situation would play out when she was ordered to help cut logs into firewood, which often included utilizing the axe. It was a joke, with her often missing, and occasionally managing a meaningless hit that accomplished nothing, but she'd face punishment all the same.

All too soon, Hikari's arms were full and she ran back out into the open area of dirt just outside of the corn field. With the eyes of Yuto on her, she made sure to place the corn into the cart in a more orderly fashion this time. A few other slaves were also filling up the cart. As she dumped her corn, she tried to avoid eye contact. She had no friends here. She was the one who kept angering the slavemasters, day after day, which was inevitably directed back at everyone else. When she wasn't being punished by the slavemasters, she was the target of abuse from the other slaves.

She ducked back into the cornfield before anyone could say anything to her, considering every trip to the cart without verbal abuse being thrown her way a victory. It was still early in the day. There was a chance that Yuto would forget the minor slipup and let her off the hook tonight if she managed to avoid another one.

She had been reprimanded by her previous owners many times, of course. Getting smacked across the knuckles with a stick, having to eat a hot pepper, sleep deprivation, the usual. Unpleasant, but tolerable. Under her new masters, the gloves were off. She'd spend an entire day in a hotbox, sweating buckets and puking. She'd be hung by her wrists from the ceiling, screaming as her arms strained to keep from popping out of their sockets. Intense and prolonged spanking that made it impossible for her to sit down for a week. It didn't matter that she was a girl, small, or delicate. She was just another slave not getting the job done. And nobody seemed to care that she was simply not capable of getting this particular job done.

She'd probably be dead by now if not for one thing. One thing keeping her going in life. And now that had been taken away from her for the past week.

"If you find a dwarf ear or a deformed ear, put it to the side. Don't throw it away, we can use it." Yuto yelled out as he continued to walk around in the field. Hikari gave a sigh of relief, thinking maybe it was a sign he was moving past her transgression. It was the little things in life. It was all she had right now.

OOOO

Hikari munched on the dark-purple brick of gel in her right hand, forcing herself to swallow the dull-tasting food. She had eaten nothing else for the last eight months, ever since she had been sold to the Sasaki family. Protein blocks, they were called. Yuto claimed that they contained all the nutrition and sustenance a person needed to survive. In fairness, she was still alive, so the claim seemed to be technically true. But it was miserable, having absolutely no variety to her diet. At least her previous masters gave her actual food, bread and cheese, occasionally a fruit. She didn't know where the protein blocks came from, or what they were made of, but she could only assume that they were the cheapest possible option to feed the slaves.

The barracks were bustling with activity, as they were every night once it got too dark to see outside. It was the only moment of the day when the slaves had the opportunity to consciously relax. After this, she'd collapse on the floor and quickly fall asleep, until a nerve-fraying buzzer sounded, serving as an order to get out into the field for work for the next sixteen hours. Every day functionally the same, mind-numbing, miserable. This was the best her life had. This twenty minutes or so when she shoveled purple gel into her mouth, no matter how sick she was of it, just so she wouldn't die.

"Hey, you!"

Hikari nearly choked on the gel, the voice coming from right behind her. Immediately, her head snapped up to look behind her. To her dismay, Yuto was standing right above her, looking down at her sitting cross-legged on the ground.

"Up, now. Outside," he said curtly. She quickly unfolded her legs and stood up, wordlessly marching past her fellow slaves towards the door across the room. So much for getting off with a verbal warning. She wasn't surprised, just disappointed.

As Yuto followed hot on her heels towards the door, she wondered what it would be this time. It was such a minor thing, but it seemed like every slip she made just angered her masters more, leading to worse punishments for even the smallest offenses. She had a bad feeling that things were just stacking and stacking, and before long she'd end up having her entire torso get covered in brands for even the smallest slip.

She reached forward, opening the wooden door, trying to not think about the seemingly inevitable punishment she was about to be put through. It was close to being business as usual at this point.

Opening the door to the outside revealed Hido Sasaki, shocking her out of her numbness. She jumped a bit, eyes going wide. Technically, she was the property of the Sasaki family, which meant her actual master was Hido's father. But she had only seen the man a couple times. Hido tended to be a lot more hands-on when it came to the actual work of the field slaves, and Hikari couldn't help but view him as more of her master than anyone else.

But he'd never take time out of his schedule for a minor punishment. Her heart sank, as she figured that the only reason why Hido would be here would be to oversee an especially harsh punishment. The worst yet, in all likelyhood.

He just stood there, outside the threshold of the door, looking at her. He was probably just a year or two older than her, with dark black hair and a harsh face, a fairly small and compact body.

After a couple beats, Hikari dropped to the ground, going down on one knee, right at the end of the wooden planks that made up the floor inside the slave barracks. She ducked her head down, looking down at the floor, figuring she may as well at least not make it worse for herself.

"Well, at least you're good at a couple things," he said snidely. "In fact, I'm almost tempted to give you a little credit for the last week."

She barely resisted the urge to look up at him. His words were surprising to her, but she was sure the other shoe was about to drop.

He stepped up so he was standing right in front of her. "Don't get me wrong, you've been about as useful as tits on a boar ever since you got here, but at least you know enough to keep your mouth shut. That's more than I can say for some of the other slaves I've seen come through here. Must be killing you, not seeing your brother for a week, but you knew enough to not ask about it."

Hido was certainly right. Her entire life leading up to this point had been one of endless misery, with one silver lining. Taichi, her older brother, had been there with her every step of the way. He looked out for her and did his best to protect her, which she needed now more than ever when given such unreasonable duties. He was built for outdoor work, blessed with strength and endurance, and could cover up her shortcomings in many instances.

And then, without preamble, one morning last week he simply wasn't present during morning roundup. Not all that surprising, except for when he didn't show up for the rest of the day either, or the next day, or the day after...but she knew better than to ask.

"Alright. I suppose that's enough suspense. And this does involve you. Get up and come with me." He turned around and began walking, headed up a small hill, down a line of similar slave barracks. Hikari got to her feet, timidly following Hido up the hill, afraid she knew exactly where they were going.

OOOO

The Sasaki estate was a massive plot of land, absolutely necessary for an empire of farming to thrive, and they needed a massive army of slaves to maintain it. Nine barracks full of free labor, each one crammed full of men and women who lacked the basic human rights everyone else in the world took for granted. There was a tenth barrack just for the slave handlers, a far nicer and better-built structure befitting their position further up the ladder. They actually had beds, decent food, good facilities, entertainment, and everything else that made a place enjoyable to occupy.

Regardless, it was actually the last place a slave wanted to find themselves. The only reason why a slave would be brought to the handler barracks was that they had been so disobedient that only an especially extreme punishment would suffice. The basement was a room of nightmares, filled with instruments of pain and suffering, used only on the slaves who had proven to be so disobedient that the Sasaki's were willing to accept the possibility of the slave dying during his or her punishment. Effectively, to be sent to the basement meant you were either on your last chance, or had just used your last chance.

Hido pulled open the door to the barracks and entered, Hikari quick to follow, with a guard taking up the tail. She didn't bother looking at the furnishings that the room held, knowing it would just make her consider what her own living quarters lacked even more, and simply followed Hido down a simple wooden staircase, sinking down below ground level.

She wasn't surprised that Taichi was down here. She had basically assumed as much after not seeing him for a few days straight. She just didn't know what he could have done to earn it. Taichi was one of the more productive slaves around, and missing his service right near harvest deadlines was something the Sasaki's wouldn't risk unless they had no other choice.

Or perhaps she was applying logic to an illogical situation, and the simple truth was that her masters valued sadism over production.

Hido opened the door at the bottom of the staircase and pushed it open. He stood to the side, eyes on Hikari. She stepped forward, entering the dark room, encased in walls, floors, and ceilings of dark grey stone.

Hido flicked the lights on, and Hikari couldn't supress a gasp. Her stomach flipped. Admittedly, it was good to see that her brother was still alive.

On the other hand, there was...everything else.

Taichi was seated on a simple wooden chair, just a half dozen steps into the room from the door. He had been stripped naked, his impressive physique absolutely covered in sweat. His ankles were strapped to the two front legs of the chair, and his wrists were tied to the armrests. His body was heaving as he panted and wheezed, sucking down quick huffs of air and quickly pushing them out. His trademark large ball of hair was nearly flat on his head, seemingly weighed down with sweat. Every now and then, he would make a wheezing grunt that painted a picture of the kind of pain he was in.

She wanted to run forward and embrace him, try to help him, get him out of the chair, but she was just able to hold back. Hido would decide if and when anything could happen. The last thing she wanted to do was make things worse for her brother. If things could get any worse.

Hido had a bemused smile on his face as he slowly walked towards the bound slave in front of him. "This is one of my favorites. It's almost all psychological, just a little sprinkling of physical stuff."

Hikari swallowed the lump in her throat. What did he mean? What had they done to him? Taichi had always had something of an impressive tolerance for pain, what could have pushed him into this state?

"It's all based on fear and anticipation, you know?" Hido continued, stopping just a step-and-a-half away from Taichi, placing the tip of his shoe on a small, rounded, bronze lump in the floor behind the slave. "I just do it a few times and leave him here, and the mind takes care of the rest." He turned to look at Hikari. "You might not be able to fully relate to this, but...maybe you'll get the general idea."

His foot pressed down, pushing the lump down into the floor. The effect was immediate and horrifying. With a pneumatic hiss, a metal pole suddenly shot out of the ground from right underneath Taichi's chair. She hadn't noticed it was there, since the top of the pole was flush with the floor, but that was the last thing on her mind. The top of the rod, maybe four inches in diameter, rocketed right into Taichi, slamming into the spot right between his legs. Hikari realized that a portion of the bottom of the chair had been cut out, which allowed the rod passage up past it, meaning that it was finding it's mark right in the most unwanted of locations.

She screamed as the rod slammed into Taichi, unable to hold back. Taichi, meanwhile, let loose a haunting screech of pain, a howl of pure agony, body jangling like a marionette in his bonds. Hikari didn't need to possess the same anatomy to understand the intense, inhuman pain that the blast must have inflicted. The rod slowly slid back into the hole in the ground, the top again becoming flush with the floor, ready to shoot upwards again and inflict another strike.

Hikari couldn't keep control of herself. She stepped forward, not thinking about anything except trying to spare her brother a bit of immediate pain. Hido simply pressed his palm into her chest as she tried to run by him and roughly pushed her back, sending her sprawling to the floor.

"You'll make this much worse for both of you," he warned. She took the hint and didn't get up, laying there on the ground, trembling in fear and starting to cry in sympathy at her brother's plight. "You know the amazing part, I've only done that about...five or six times. After the first couple strikes, the victim does the rest." He turned to look at Taichi, who was still groaning in agony, body still twitching as the intense pain that had been pumped through his entire body refused to subside quickly. "He gets left in that chair for days, unable to see the button, ears plugged and unable to hear sound. No idea when the button gets pushed again. Could happen in two seconds, could happen in two days. Could never happen. No warning, no preamble, no chance to brace for it. Just the knowledge that it could happen. They sit there, shaking in fear, body twitching, can't sleep, can't eat, can't do anything but think about what might happen. All we have to do is hit the button every now and then, and they'll torture themselves with thoughts more than we ever could."

Tears streaked down Hikari's cheeks. This was beyond anything she had ever seen before. Nobody deserved such a fate. How could anyone, even someone like Hido, possibly look at this process with admiration or appreciation? Who could possibly sentence someone to such an impossibly cruel fate? She gave out a little squeak, not wanting to speak out of turn but not in complete control of herself right now.

"Of course...they usually don't make much of a recovery," Hido admitted, turning back to look at Hikari. "I mean, the mental damage...spend enough time in the chair and you go insane. At the very least, good luck getting a good night's sleep ever again. And physically, ooh...I've seen one or two just spend the rest of their lives in the fetal position. Mostly they can't sit right ever again, and walking's a pipe dream...it's ugly."

Hikari continued to sob madly, as the gravity of this situation began to weigh even heavier. Hido just continued talking, as if she wasn't, almost like he was giving an educational lecture of the torture. She only half-paid attention, as the puzzle pieces came together in her mind. If this was a torture that would render the victim unable to walk and mentally unhinged, then it surely must be done only to slaves who were already marked to be killed.

"It's not something we use lightly...so you can rest assured, your brother deserved it." Slowly, Taichi began to make quieter noises, settling down into a bubbling series of groans, body still writhing. "Truth be told, you deserve to be sitting right next to him, suffering something just as bad. You're part of this too."

Hikari still wailed madly, but tilted her head up just slightly towards Hido to acknowledge some level of confusion. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Or maybe you're not?" He shrugged. "Well, you are part of it...maybe you didn't know? Suppose it doesn't matter if you did or not." He turned, pointing at Taichi. "A week ago, he tried to escape in the middle of the night."

Hikari continued to release uncontrollable sobs, but forced herself to quiet down just a bit, wanting to hear exactly how this had happened.

"The odd thing was, he managed to get out of his barrack, but didn't go right for the border," Hido continued. "Escaping the grounds is hard enough when you take the quickest path, but becomes impossible when you go the wrong way. So we caught him trying to break into another barrack. Yours, as it turns out."

Hikari finally began to run out of tears, though the misery and sadness remained, and she was quiet outside of a couple little hiccups.

"So we did what we always do with escapees. Two days of assorted punishments, and back to work." He clapped a couple times. "Happens at least ten to fifteen times a year, I can forgive, let it go, no need to lose a perfectly good slave over one ill-advised escape attempt." He gave his head a slight tilt to the right. "Of course...an hour after we threw him back into the barracks, we caught him making a second attempt. Again, trying to break into your barrack building instead of just high-tailing it towards the roads." He shook his head. "I mean, if he does that, at least he has a CHANCE, I don't understand why someone who actually got that far would get so greedy, you know? I just don't get it. Anyway, at that point, I know we have a lost cause on our hands."

"S-...S-Sir, please," Hikari sobbingly exclaimed, knowing that talking right now was probably a bad idea, but she was desperate to spare Taichi from what seemed to be an inevitable fate. "I...I'll...I'll t-talk to him, he won't ever try to escape again, I s-swear, let me-"

"Oh, you think you need to talk to him?" Hido interrupted, sounding almost amused. He gestured towards him. "Look at him, you think he needs you to tell him to not try escaping again? After he went through this? I could buy him a car, drop him off by the road, and he wouldn't try to escape." He shook his head at Hikari. "Maybe you can't understand thanks to gender, but..." he pointed down at his crotch, "take it from me, I'd never have to worry about anything ever again with him. Besides, how would he even go about that? What, he's gonna roll on his side a half mile to the road?" He waved his hands around in front of him. "Now keep your mouth closed or I'll hit the button again, I'm talking."

Hikari swallowed down hard, the threat more than enough to silence her.

"So I tell Rui, he's all yours, make a game of it, see how long you can keep him alive and in pain, try to break your record, we'll sell his organs to science to try to recoup some of the loss." Hido walked over to Taichi. "Earlier today, I came down here to check in, see if he was still breathing." He gave a small chuckle. "To my amazement, he was doing more than that. He was still able to talk. And I mean full sentences. Usually after a few days in that chair, they've got nothing, but your brother, he just...call it an incredible amount of focus and will on his part, I suppose."

Hikari couldn't take her eyes off her brother's heaving figure. She would have been proud of him for resisting so much pain and torture for as long as he did, if she wasn't completely occupied by terror.

"So he says, he wants you to be moved to indoor duty. He said he tried to escape because he thought you weren't going to last much longer if you were kept in the fields. He was going back to try to get you, that's why he kept trying to get into your barrack. I kind of figured that much." He gave a disbelieving smile. "And then he says, if I moved you to indoor duty, he'd stop trying to escape."

He paused for a couple seconds, then started laughing. She just laid there, on the ground, smart enough to keep quiet. She seriously doubted this was going to lead to a promotion to inside work for her...but it wasn't completely out of the question.

"I mean, the balls on this guy, right? No pun intended," Hido said. "He's talking to me like he has some sort of leverage. Like he's got some grounds to negotiate on. He's strapped to a chair, getting his testicles smashed by a metal rod, and he thinks he can make a deal." He shook his head. "I couldn't decide if I should be furious or in admiration of his boldness." He turned to look at Hikari. "You worked indoors before you got here?"

Hikari couldn't believe it. Was he actually going to take Taichi up on his offer? Was all this going to get her back inside, where she might actually have a chance? She quickly nodded, afraid to actually open her mouth.

"W-well, I mean, don't think for a second that you're getting moved inside," Hido said dismissively, dashing Hikari's hopes instantly. "I give him what he wants, who knows what the slaves are going to start asking for next, not dealing with that. Worst thing you can do is give a slave a scrap of kindness, they'll start expecting it." He pointed at Hikari. "You are going to either figure out how to pull your weight in the field or end up a corpse, that's all there is to it."

Hikari felt like a ten pound weight had dropped down to the pit of her stomach. That was that. Taichi was about to die. She had been brought down here to be forced to watch. Or maybe she was next, just for the crime of being the reason why Taichi tried to escape.

"But he did give me a bit of an idea," Hido continued. "So...don't call it a deal. Call it a...challenge." He cleared his throat and leveled his gaze back at Hikari. "I'm hosting a card game tomorrow with my friends. I'll need a slave in the room, ready to fill food and drink orders, or whatever requests get made. Akari's filled that role for me for a couple years now, but she snapped two days ago out of nowhere." He gave a cartoonish shrug. "Grabbed a knife in the kitchen, tried to attack my mother with it, and when that didn't work, she killed herself with it." He rotated his left index finger in little circles by his left ear. "Sakura would have been the backup girl, but I can't have her either, her nose is leaking snot like a faucet right now, disgusting." He scowled. "Gonna have to bake it out of her in the hotbox. So, my options are thin. But you've done things like this before, and you look the part, so I suppose you're the best I've got."

Hikari's gaze danced back and forth between Taichi and Hido. If Hido was annoyed by her focus clearly not being fully on him, he didn't indicate it. She just couldn't help it, even as she knew that it might get her in trouble.

"So, you're going to wait on the card game tomorrow. Kneel on the floor, don't make a sound, snap up the moment anyone asks you to do something, and follow instructions to the letter. If you do it perfectly...and I mean that quite literally...he lives." He pointed back at Taichi. "You two get to go back out to work in the fields, and he gets one last chance at life, that I'm sure he'll appreciate it very deeply." His expression hardened. "Any slipups, and you're both done. I'll drag you down here and force you to watch Rui finish him off, then I'll give you to my brother and tell him to have fun."

Hikari audibly gulped, but was quick to nod her head up and down. Not that it was really a request that she could decline, but it was better than nothing.

"Good," he said curtly. "You sleep down here tonight, some of the maids will come get you tomorrow to clean you up. I'd spend your time visualizing yourself handling your tasks perfectly tomorrow."

With that, he stepped forward and roughly grabbed Hikari by the shoulder. She had all the strength of a rag doll at this point, and Hido had no problem dragging her over towards one of the steel doors built into the wall. He opened the large door with his right hand, then shoved her into the cell with his left. She slipped and fell to the floor, falling in a pile in the center of the small cell.

She didn't protest as Hido slammed the steel door shut and locked it. Didn't jump up and run to the door to pound on it. She didn't have the energy to even put up this half-assed attempt at a struggle. Seeing her older brother in such a state, hearing the impossibly large stakes of tomorrow...she was more than happy to curl up into a ball and quietly sob to herself until she fell asleep. 


	2. Overbetting

Chapter 2: Overbetting

AN: I'll be jumping right into the deep end of the pool with poker stuff. If you find yourself a bit confused or lost, I'll certainly be presenting things in a more accessible manner down the line.

I'm just adjusting to using the Japanese names of the characters, hopefully it goes well. In this fic, I'm using their dub names as nicknames for a few of the characters, just so that's clear now.

OOO

The incessant clicking and clattering was starting to get to Hikari. And that was quite an achievement, given how occupied her mind currently was with her circumstances.

She was inside the Sasaki manor, finally, occupying the role of table servant as she had been told. This seemed to be the game room, occupied by various tables with assorted objects on top of them. Other colorful objects were put up on the walls. She didn't know what any of it was or how it was used, and she certainly wasn't going to care right now. Also sporadically placed on the walls were decorations, paintings and trinkets, none of which Hikari had the time nor the mindset to really look at.

Only one of the tables was occupied at the moment, a large oval-shaped one near the entrance to the room with chairs all around it. The surface was covered in a green felt. Each chair was occupied by a well-dressed young adult. Hikari had been told to kneel on the floor a couple feet away from the table, keep her head down, and be ready to jump up the moment anyone had an order for her.

They were all playing a card game. How the game worked was the last thing Hikari cared about right now. It involved a stack of cards, and each player had several stacks of small, circular chips in front of them.

And it was those damned chips that were causing her aggravation. Most of the players constantly played with their chips, clicking them against each other, stacking them, re-stacking them, every action coming with a series of obnoxious sounds.

Of course, she wasn't nearly dumb enough to complain about it.

"Glass of the dark, the four and a half percent," a voice came from the table. Hikari immediately jumped up, briskly walking over to the near corner of the room. Several large wooden barrels with metal taps near the bottoms were positioned there, with stacks of upside-down drinking glasses next to them. She grabbed one of the glasses and moved to the third barrel from the left, labeled '4.5% DARK'. She twisted the tap and a stream of dark liquid poured out from the tap and into the glass.

When the glass was filled to capacity, she turned the tap off, a head of foam topping the container of liquid. She quickly walked it over to the table, careful to not spill a drop.

"Right over here," one of the players said, waving his hand at her. A thin young man with a clean head of blue hair. His hairstyle actually made her think of her own a little bit. As she quickly took the glass over to him, she examined the occupants of the table for the first time.

Hido, of course, was there. The rest she had never seen before. To the right of the blue-haired one who had just placed the order, there was a woman, big thick glasses on her face, long lavender hair reaching her shoulders. Next to her was a tall man with slightly dark skin, an unlit cigarette held between his lips. A man with short blond hair, a large man with a bald head, a blonde-haired woman with a large chest, a dark-skinned man with very short black hair, and a short woman with a brown ponytail. All of them wore expensive-looking clothing. Not too different from the sorts of people she would frequently see when she was serving her previous masters.

Without lingering too much on thoughts of examining the people she was serving tonight, she got the glass over to the blue-haired man. He took it, a small smile cast her way before he turned his attention back to the table.

"I was intentionally flatting and hoping someone would squeeze," Hido said, tossing two cards over towards the woman with the brown ponytail. "I had this great plan, and of course, she just has to have aces." He gestured over towards the girl with lavender hair, scowling.

"Honestly, I'm impressed you didn't get felted," said the blond man. "Good pot control, could have easily gone broke with queens in that spot."

Hido growled. "Why would you say that, Takeru? W-why would you say something like that?"

"No, I'm serious, checking the flop saved you quite a bit of money," Takeru insisted. "I-it's a good play."

"Yeah, good play." Hido rolled his eyes. The woman with the brown ponytail, holding the stack of cards, began distributing them out to the players face down, moving around the table. "I'm stuck eighteen thousand already tonight, I wanna hear someone tell me about how good I played it to save seven thousand? No, to hell with that!"

Takeru gave a small grimace. "Okay, okay, sorry."

The blonde woman flipped her two cards over towards the woman holding the stack of cards, keeping them face down. "So anyway, I just thought it was a weird thing to say, he didn't even have to say it."

The man with short black hair also tossed his two cards towards the middle of the table. "You know, I wonder if he's right. Thinking about it, I don't know if you're losing anything, but you might gain some exposure."

"I mean, maybe. Don't you think some people might find feet gross? I think some people do," she replied.

"Raise it to six hundred," Hido said, seemingly not a part of the conversation at hand, tossing a green chip and a white chip towards the center of the table.

Hikari went back to her spot on the floor, kneeling and waiting for another order. Listening to these people engage in such casual conversation made her feel all the worse. She was literally serving this table for her life and her brother's life, and the people right next to her had no clue how high the stakes were for her. And if they did know, they probably wouldn't even care. Hearing them joking around and talking about things she had no understanding of and playing a game just hammered all this home.

Earlier in the day, while a couple of older women had helped her clean up, she had put things together. There was no winning here. Taichi was obviously in no shape to do much of anything, much less work efficiently, and wouldn't be for quite some time. There was no such thing as medical leave, or any half-decent medical care, for slaves. Hikari could see Hido playing a sadistic little game that couldn't be won. Surely, even if she performed her serving duties to his satisfaction, he'd just let Taichi prove himself completely incapable of working before disposing of him anyway. And as for what would happen with her, she wasn't sure.

She still felt like she needed to give her best effort to please Hido, just to have a chance. But she had a feeling there was no scenario where Taichi made it out with his life. And her feeling of extreme helplessness was only increased by hearing such casual banter.

OOO

~Takeru~

"Sure, but it's not like the photos are focusing on the feet specifically, they're just present in the picture." Takeru grabbed a green chip and a white chip from the many stacks in front of him and tossed them towards the center of the table. "I think most people wouldn't even really think about it, but if you're into it, it might draw your attention a little more."

"Are you complaining about it? Do you not like it?" Ken asked.

"Oh, no, definitely not, it's not a problem. I don't even like wearing shoes," Daisy said, tucking a couple strands her long blonde hair behind her right ear. "It was just kind of a funny thing to say, I thought. He could have just said, take your shoes off for the photoshoot, and I wouldn't have even thought about it. But he chooses to specifically say that he believes that a lot of people have a bit of a foot fetish and don't want to admit it."

"Two players," Juliet announced, taking the first card off the top of the deck in her hand and setting it to the side, then taking the next three cards off the top and setting them face-up on the center of the table next to each other.

Nine of clubs, nine of diamonds, four of diamonds.

Juliet gestured towards Hido, who took a few seconds to observe the cards before making a move towards his pile of chips. "Eight hundred." He tossed a green chip and three white chips to the middle of the table.

Juliet turned to Takeru, gesturing now to him.

"So when do the advertisements actually get put up?" Sammy asked, pulling the unlit cigarette from his mouth for a second before putting it back in.

"I think about three weeks, they'll put the posters up in the stores. They'll show up in magazines next month."

"I still feel like it's a big scam," Miyako chimed in. "They'll take those photos you did for them and they might use them thousands of times over multiple years. Getting paid a flat fee is bullshit."

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, so terrible, I only got paid twenty-five grand for one day of work, I feel so wronged."

"Twenty-five grand?" Daryl repeated from the seat to the left of Daisy. "I would have guessed five at best, that's pretty incredible."

"Well, they can't mess around with me because of my mother," Daisy pointed out. "It's not worth saving a few thousand dollars if it means possibly irritating her."

"I have a hard time picturing your mom getting upset about anything. That's just kind of a hard thing to imagine from what I've seen of her," Yuma said with a small laugh.

"That's because you never saw her near the end of her first marriage," Daisy said, grimacing slightly.

During the conversation, Takeru had been staring at the flop, shuffling some chips together with the fingers of his right hand. He grabbed two black chips from the top of one of the stacks in front of him, followed by three white ones from another stack. He could sense Hido starting to frown as he put the small handful of chips together.

"Pot," he said quietly, tossing the five chips into the middle. The moment they hit the felt, Hido slammed the table hard with his right fist.

"LITERALLY every time the flop is paired tonight, he has trips!" he snapped. The light conversation around the table stopped, everyone looking at Hido.

"W-what happened?" Yuma asked. "What's going on?"

Hido gritted his teeth, looking over at the chips Takeru had just put in. "Fourth time tonight, we've been playing for less than a hour, he has it again!"

"Wow, I was totally not even paying attention," Miyako said, leaning in to look at the flop. "What's the deal?"

Hido sighed. "I bluffed on a flop that was good to bluff on, and he has a nine." He quickly took his two cards and tossed them over to Juliet. "Every time the flop is paired, he has trips. Fourth time tonight. Like, every time I bluff, I run into a monster."

"One thing I noticed, is that every time you're in a hand, and someone else is in the same hand, they always have a better hand than you," Daisy said dryly, trying to not laugh as she said it.

"Yeah. It does seem like that, doesn't it?" Hido said.

"Okay, does everyone except Hido realize Daisy is trolling him, or does Hido realize it too and is just playing along?" Ken asked, earning a disdainful look from Hido. The entire table shared a small laugh as Juliet pushed the pile of chips in the middle over to Takeru.

"I'm actually offended that you don't think I have it in me to bluff you in that spot," Takeru said as he began stacking the chips by color in front of him.

Hido needed a second to consider Takeru's words before turning to him, eyes widening, realizing what had happened. Takeru took his two cards and flipped them face up on the table, exposing the seven of spades and the two of hearts.

"Ohhhh shit!" Daryl said, jumping up from his seat and clapping. "You were floating him preflop with seven deuce, that's sick!"

"Oh, that's pure!" Akira said, grinning widely. Juliet took the two cards back into the deck, shuffling it.

"Wow," Hido said under his breath. "Called a preflop raise with seven deuce. Didn't raise me, called me."

"That's two hundred from everyone," Takeru said, motioning his finger around at the table. Each player grabbed two white chips from their respective stacks and tossed them over to Takeru, with Hido taking his time. "Come on buddy, we're playing the bounty, we agreed before we started."

Hido grunted, before quickly grabbing two white chips and throwing them in front of Takeru. He took the bounty and stacked the chips in front of him.

"I just can't believe you tried it on Hido," Miyako said, holding her hands over her chest, still in slight surprise. "You're always talking about how he's such a calling station, I just thought you'd never try to bluff him."

"I was only gonna try it if the flop was dry," Takeru said, unable to not grin at his own tricky play. "And I knew if I raised preflop he was just going to ship it with anything decent."

"I had ace king of spades," Hido grunted as Juliet began dealing the cards again. "If I had any pocket pair bigger than a ten, I'm snap-calling, how can you try that move?" He still sounded disbelieving that he had been had so badly.

"I know you're on tilt, so your range is wider," Takeru said coolly as he looked down at his cards. Nine of hearts, five of spades. "And you're incredibly unbalanced on paired flops." The action folded around to him, only Yuma having entered the hand so far, and he threw his hand into the muck as well. "Fold."

"What do you mean?" Hido asked, turning to Takeru, interest piqued.

Takeru gave a small sigh. "I shouldn't be telling you this, since it's a huge leak in your game that I can exploit, but it's kind of sad at this point. So I will." He turned to Hido.

"To five hundred," Daisy said, tossing one green chip towards the middle of the table.

"You always bet paired flops, like eighty percent of the time," Takeru said. "It's just this massive leak in your game. I know you're bluffing most of the time and I can just push you over."

"You're feeling nice today, TK," Sammy said. "I would never have told him. Not in a hundred years."

"Well, it's just starting to depress me almost. He does it over and over again, and thinks people can't pick up on it."

"Two players," Juliet said, again burning a card before flipping the next three over. Jack of diamonds, ace of diamonds, nine of clubs. Daisy quickly tapped her fingers on the table a couple times, checking over to Yuma.

"That play's never going to work unless you're balanced," Takeru continued. "If it's a good flop for you to bluff, it's just as good a flop for me to bluff too."

Hido gave a little grunt of annoyance before standing up. "I'm just gonna go rebuy now." He turned towards a cabinet against the wall, near where the servant girl was kneeling. Yuma tapped the table with his fingers a few times as well.

"Rebuying after forty-five minutes," Ken muttered as Hido opened the cabinet and grabbed a rack of various-colored chips. "Sometimes there's just nothing you can do."

Another card from the top of the deck was discarded, and the next one was flipped up next to the first three. Three of clubs.

"Hey, everyone in this game has had to rebuy faster than that at least a few times," Hido retorted, bringing the rack over and flipping it on it's side, letting the chip stacks fall out onto the table. "Don't tell me I'm wrong, I know for a fact people have had to rebuy after two hands on multiple occasions."

Takeru turned to look over at the servant girl on the floor. "Water, and some peanuts." Immediately, she jumped up to her feet and made her way over into the near corner. Takeru sized her up, noting the ginger gait she had, almost as if she was in pain, and the tremendous rush she was in to fill the glass with water.

Daisy silently tossed four white chips into the middle of the table.

"Four hundred," Juliet said, turning to Yuma.

"New girl? Haven't seen her before," Takeru asked, turning to look at Hido.

"And you won't see her again," Hido replied tartily. "She's just filling in for the night, since the house slaves around here are a bunch of worthless cows."

"I think the role fits her," Takeru said as she raced back over, carrying the glass and a small bowl of nuts. He felt a small twinge of some discomfort, getting to look at her straight on. Her motions seemed robotic and forced, eyes almost unfocused. He had been around thousands of slaves in his life, and rarely were they all that happy with their lot in life, but this one in particular looked pathetic and hopeless. It wasn't a pretty thing to look at. "She makes sense doing something like this."

Yuma tossed his cards towards Juliet, surrendering the hand, and the small pile of chips was sent over to Daisy.

"Well, she's a field slave. And after today, she'll be going back to the field, and that's that," Hido said, finality in his voice, turning to shoot Hikari a look as she kneeled back on the floor.

"I gave you such a good price and everything, I wanted you to call so bad!" Daisy said with a wry little grin, pushing her cards over to Juliet. "Such a big hand I had, I wanted you to raise!"

"Ace jack of clubs?" Takeru said without breaking stride.

Daisy blinked down hard a couple times. "Oh my God, he reads me when he's not even paying attention, I must be so bad at this game."

"No you're not," Takeru said. "It's just kind of obvious." He cleared his throat as Juliet shuffled the deck.

Moments later, a new hand was dealt out, each player getting two cards as always. "So anyway, what does she do out in the field?"

Hido scoffed in annoyance. "What all the other field slaves do. You know how a farm works, right?" Hido threw his two cards back over to Juliet.

Takeru rubbed his chin, looking back over at the slave girl. She was shaking a bit. "I...she just doesn't really look the part."

"Make it...six hundred to go," Ken said, tossing a green chip and white chip into the center of the table.

"Well, we bought her to work in the field, so that's what she's going to do, or else," Hido said, visibly agitated. "Are you taking a survey? Do you actually give a shit for some reason?"

Miyako and Sammy folded their cards back over to Juliet. Takeru finally took a look at his two cards. King of clubs, king of spades.

"I just think it's a little odd," Takeru said casually, taking his time with the decision of calling or raising. "Out there she must be...half as productive as the others." He leaned back and looked over at her. "No offense meant, sorry."

She looked up and over at him, bewilderment and confusion painted on her face.

Hido glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, causing her to quickly look away. "You're right on that one. Useful as tits on a boar out there," he grumbled. "But if she doesn't find a way to pick things up, it'll be her who suffers, not me."

"I understand," Ken said, propping his right elbow on the edge of the table and putting his palm against his cheek. "It's kind of like when you have a poker hand that you know is losing, but you call the bet anyway." Ken gave a small smirk. "You know, like a...calling station might do."

The whole table minus Hido gave a good laugh at this. Even Hido couldn't resist a small smile after a moment, begrudgingly acknowledging the humor.

"Okay, that was actually a little funny," Hido conceded. "Not THAT funny, though." He looked back at the slave girl. "She was one of the slaves getting sold when the Ripley estate had that big sale a handful of months ago. We needed a couple new field hands, so I bought her brother. They told me that if I bought her as well, they'd discount me a third of the price. Not turning down value like that."

"It's not value if she's only giving you half production out there," Sammy said, taking the cigarette and tucking it behind his right ear. "TK, it's on you."

"I know," Takeru said, taking a black chip and a green chip from the large pile in front of him. "Raise to fifteen hundred."

"Yikes," Daryl said, quickly folding his hand over to Juliet. Those acting behind quickly followed suit, the turn quickly going back to Ken.

"Aw man. This sucks," Ken lamented. "I don't know what to do. It's just me and him, right?"

"Yup," Miyako replied. "Nine hundred to call."

Ken sighed. "Pot's already...twenty-four hundred." He grimaced, looking over at Takeru. "I don't want to play a bloated pot out of position with the chip leader."

"What does it matter if he's the chip leader?" Sammy asked. "It's a cash game, you can just rebuy if he busts you."

"Yeah, but I don't want to get busted either way!" Ken objected. "Besides, I...actually didn't bring any more money with me today."

"Yeah, and your credit is obviously no good here," Yuma said dryly. "We all think you're broke, you definitely can't just rebuy and promise to bring the cash next time."

"Maybe he accidentally set those truckloads of money he has back home on fire," Daisy followed up on Yuma's joke. "One of his little science experiments goes wrong, millions goes up in flames!"

"Okay, either way, I'd rather not have to rebuy, and this spot is just gross," Ken said. "I can't fold either, I have such a good hand, this might be my best hand for the next two hours for all I know!" He grimaced. "How much you got there, TK?"

Takeru surveyed the depths of his chip stacks. "Uh...I've got like...fifty-five grand behind."

"See, he's already doubled up today." Ken looked over his smaller stack of chips. "I've got like...twenty-eight thousand. I could double up through him and he'd still have a small profit on the day, that's what's so sick about it."

"If you do double up, why would you even care about that?" Hido asked.

"Point is, I can't even really hurt him, but he can hurt me." Ken sighed again. "I'm tempted to just shove. At least then I don't have to play out of position." He looked back over at Takeru. "Alright." He grabbed a green chip and four white chips and tossed them into the middle. "I call."

"Two players," Juliet said quietly, taking the chips into the middle of the table.

"And for the record, Hido, I kind of like her too," Ken said, gesturing his head over towards the slave girl. "She looks nice, she fits the role well."

Miyako gave Ken a dirty look. "Seriously? I mean, I'm right here."

"Oh, don't be like that," Ken said dismissively. "I just...I think I like her more than the usual girl when we play here." He shrugged. "Don't take it too seriously."

Juliet put down the flop. Two of spades, two of diamonds, two of clubs.

"Oh, this is gross," Ken said, smirking despite himself. He reached forward to tap the table. "I don't like that flop. I check, please bet so I can fold." He turned to Miyako. "Honey, if he bets, you have to make me fold."

"Check," Takeru said, looking over at Juliet. "Come on, we both know that whatever you have, that was a great flop, don't even try that."

"Yeah, I know, it's a great flop for my hand, that's why I hate it!" Ken said. "You're not getting me to bet, I'm not betting! I check in the dark."

Juliet put down the turn card. Queen of spades.

TK looked down at the community cards, clasping his hands in front of his face, in thought.

"Just to be firm," Hido suddenly interjected. "To close the matter. Ken, I don't tell your family how to put together computers. TK, I don't tell your family how to run their casino." He pointed over at the servant girl. "She's a field slave. That's how we use her, that's what she's going to do, and if she can't keep up, then she'll pay the price. End of discussion."

Takeru popped a few peanuts into his mouth. "Fair enough." He grabbed two black chips from the top of one of his stacks. "Two grand." He tossed them towards the middle of the table.

"Oof," Ken said, a nervous smile on his face as he looked at the community cards. "Two thousand."

"Is this where I'm supposed to make you fold?" Miyako asked sarcastically.

Ken grimaced. "Technically, yes. But I'm getting better than two and a half to one on my money, I can't fold now." He grabbed a stack of black chips and began playing with them on the table, shuffling them around. "I might even need to raise."

The rest of the table had gone silent at this point, watching the action develop between the two.

"I can't fold," Ken muttered. "Okay, you know what?" He took two of the black chips he was playing with and tossed them into the middle. "I just call."

Seven thousand three hundred in the pot," Akira said under his breath. "Wish I could be part of it."

Juliet discarded the top card, then put down the river. Seven of diamonds.

"I check," Ken said quickly, pointing over at Takeru. "Now give me a good price and I'll pay you off. Go on, take my money."

"I'm all-in," Takeru said immediately, drawing a gasp from Miyako and a little shocked yelp from Daisy.

"No, you're not!" Sammy said, looking over at Takeru. "Oh, I love you guys. This is so beautiful."

"More than triple the pot?" Daisy said in disbelief. "The heck is going on here?"

"NOW can I make you fold?" Miyako asked, looking back at Ken, who looked shocked at the immediate shove from Takeru. "I think I might make you fold regardless of what you say."

"H-hold on," Ken said, grabbing more black chips and beginning to play with them, stacking and cutting them repeatedly on the table. "Now I'm not sure."

"So you have something?" Hido asked. "You're last to act no matter what, you can say whatever now."

"Yes, I have something." Ken put his hand up to his mouth. "If he bets four or five thousand, it's an easy call. If he bets eight or ten thousand, it's an easy fold. Twenty-six thousand, I don't know." He shook his head. "Now I'm wondering if he has ten-nine or jack-ten and is just trying to buy the pot." He looked up at the ceiling. "He might have jack high."

"You can beat jack high?" Daisy asked, a bit of sarcasm in her voice.

"I have jack high crushed," Ken said. "Yeah, I may as well just say what my hand is at this point, right?"

"Everyone knows your hand already," Takeru said. "Unless you're just messing around."

"What's my hand?" Ken asked.

"Well, it's either ace queen or king queen," Takeru replied. "Anything else and this whole hand makes no sense."

Ken grabbed his two cards. "Guess it doesn't matter now," he said, flipping them face up on the table, exposing the ace of hearts and the queen of hearts.

"Oh, you have a queen?" Daryl said, looking over at Ken's cards. "Well what are you waiting for?"

"Can I have those cards?" Yuma said. "I want those cards, I'll snap-call with them."

Ken stretched his back out. "Hold on, I need a second."

"This is kind of a big moment, so I'd appreciate it if you guys didn't talk strategy with him while the hand is alive," Takeru said. "Just, you know, it's on him."

Ken sighed heavily. "He knows what my hand is. He puts me all in for more than triple the pot." He licked his lips, then took a drink out of his glass of beer. "Doesn't mean he can beat it. If he thought I had a queen, he'd think I wouldn't be able to fold it. So he'd go for maximum value. Of course, he knows that I know that, so he could be bluffing."

Takeru reached over and took a sip from his glass of water, letting Ken ponder his decision.

"Oh man. This sucks," Ken said. "I'm gonna be genuinely mad if I call and he shows seven-two offsuit again." He ran his fingers through his blue hair. "That'd be pretty dirty." He leaned forward towards the board. "Okay. Aces, kings, queens, sevens, any hand with a deuce in it. Can't beat any of those hands. If he has a queen, we split the pot. What else would he do this with?"

"I love watching this stuff," Daisy said, a small smile on her face. "The two greatest poker minds around, going back and forth in a big pot."

Ken gave a small chuckle. "Yeah, I wish. If I had the best poker mind around, I would have made the right decision by now. Okay, any other hand is a bluff. He wouldn't do this with two jacks unless he was turning them into a bluff. So...all I can beat is a bluff." He looked up at Takeru. "He could definitely be bluffing. That overbet looks like it could be."

Ken looked down at his chip stack. "If I fold I'm still up two hundred tonight." He shook his head. "I really just think he has aces or kings. It's just, he checked the flop, would you do that with aces or kings?" After a couple more seconds, he picked up his two cards and threw them towards Juliet.

"Oh my god, he threw it away," Sammy said in mild shock. "He threw away a double-up."

"How do you fold that freaking hand?!" Yuma said.

Ken grabbed two white chips from his pile. "TK, I'll give you two hundred to show me what you had."

"If he has seven deuce, he'll show anyway," Miyako pointed out.

"I don't have seven deuce," Takeru said quickly. "I think."

Ken gave a disbelieving little head shake. "Okay. I'll give you two hundred to show. If you show seven deuce, the two hundred counts as the bounty."

"Why would I lie at this point? Hand's over. And I can't believe you folded, I missed out on so much value." With a shrug, he flipped over his two cards, exposing the two black kings.

"Wow!" Daryl gasped. "He nailed it!"

Ken tossed two white chips over to Takeru, then put his hands up in the air. "Best laydown of the night!"

Juliet pushed the pot over to Takeru, who quickly began stacking them in front of him. "I can't believe you got away from that, I overbet thinking you'd call anything." He shrugged. "Should have just bet five thousand."

"I never could have folded that hand, I can't lie," Daisy said. "I think if it's anyone else in that situation, it's a call."

"Hey honey!" Ken turned to Miyako. "I was supposed to go broke that hand!" He pointed over at Takeru. "But he forgot one thing. I can dodge bullets, baby!"

Hido turned to look at the servant girl. "Hey," he said, causing her to jump to her feet. "The green bottle in the cabinet on the bottom shelf. Pour out eight shots."

"Oh, finally we get comped a little bit here," Sammy said, peering over Miyako's head to look at the girl following her orders. "What, you mix some stuff in your bathtub?"

"That's Cada Elixir, so I don't want to hear you complain about the 'comps' around here again after today," Hido said.

"Trying to get everyone drunk so you have a chance to win," Ken said wryly. "I gotta admit, I respect the strategy."

Takeru turned to look at Hikari, getting eight shot glasses out on a brass tray. Still the same forced, robotic movements from her, if anything more pronounced now. Perhaps having half the room talking about her had shaken her even more.

"That bottle is worth more than your life," Hido snapped over at her as she popped the cork out of the top of the bottle. "You spill one drop, I'll chop off your hands."

Takeru raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Hido before looking back to her. She certainly carried herself like someone who was facing extreme punishment if she slipped up in the slightest, so her demeanor made a little more sense.

"My father made a deal with the Cada breweries and they gave us a bunch of vintage bottles as a gift. He gave me this one, said it might be a nice thing to share with you guys." He smirked. "Don't know why, you guys are such pricks to me all the time."

"We're all pricks to everyone," Daryl countered. "It's just your turn in the barrel. TK, on you."

Takeru turned back to the table and looked down at his two cards. Jack of spades, six of spades. He tossed them back over to Juliet, turning back to watch the girl carefully carry a tray of full shot glasses over towards the table.

OOO

"I think that's one of the best days anyone's ever had at this game," Daisy marveled as Takeru lined his stacks of chips up in front of him. "What did you end up with?"

"I think this is the best I've ever done playing with you guys. At least top three," Takeru agreed. "Looks like...one hundred and twenty two thousand, six hundred."

"You nearly...quintupled up," Hido said, nodding to himself. "Credit where credit is due."

Sammy stood up. "Did anyone else profit today? I know I definitely didn't."

Juliet reached into a large wooden chest underneath the table, filled with stacks of green slips of paper about three inches thick, held together by rubber bands. She took out five of them and brought them up to the table. She tossed four of them over to Takeru, then undid the rubber band on the fifth.

"Thank you so much, you were great tonight." Takeru watched her count out bills from the fifth stack, removing twenty-four bills and giving Takeru the remainder. Takeru quickly took five of the bills and tossed them back to Juliet.

"Thank you so much, sir," Juliet replied, taking the five hundred dollars and slipping it into a pocket on the chest of her shirt.

"Yeah, you should tip her well tonight," Yuma said, standing up from the table and stretching out. "I'm at...seventeen thousand, eight hundred." Down over eight grand, I actually feel kind of lucky anyway."

Juliet reached back down into the chest, grabbing a stack.

"So what's your bankroll now?" Daisy asked, standing up as well and moving around the table, closer to Takeru. "Gotta be pretty good."

"Uh...like eight fifty," Takeru answered. "Not counting this, so...now it's nine seventy, about."

"How is it not way more?" Miyako asked, counting her own chips out. "I feel like I've lost more than that to you over the years. Like, just me."

TK snickered. "Yeah, I wish." He shrugged, shoving the large handfuls of money into a small bag looped around the back of his chair. "Sometimes I lose too, you know. Sometimes I run bad, sometimes I get unlucky, sometimes I play bad. And sometimes I spend some of my bankroll."

"On what?" Yuma asked, also doing a final count of his stack.

"Stuff. When I want something, and I have to exchange money to acquire it," Takeru stood up, looping the bag over his shoulder, then stretching his arms up above his head. "You know, how capitalism works."

"Yeah, but out of your bankroll?" Yuma continued. "Your dad sounds like a bit of a tightwad sometimes, but making you buy your own stuff with your bankroll?"

"Well, I like buying things with my money, it makes me feel good. And obviously I can afford it," Takeru countered.

"So...if you were like every other kid with wealthy parents in the world and just had them buy you everything, what do you think your bankroll would be?" Daisy asked. "Like, your culmulative poker profit."

Takeru thought for a moment, pursing his lips. "Probably around...three million."

"That's a little more believable," Miyako said.

"So if you run decently over the next month, you'll be able to do One Drop this year," Yuma said, mouth curled up into a small grin.

Takeru gave a little hiccuping laugh. "Oh yeah, One Drop, I'm all over that, brilliant idea."

"What, you're not doing One Drop?" Akira asked, standing up and putting his hands in his pockets.

"Gee, let me think. A million dollar buy-in, like twenty people cash at best. Yeah, I'll pass." Takeru took another drink from his half-empty glass of water.

"But what if I do One Drop?" Daisy asked, putting her hands up on her chest. "It's like, I'm gonna do One Drop and you're not even though you're ten times the player I am?"

"You're not doing One Drop," Takeru said.

"Maybe I will!" Daisy enthused. "Between the photoshoots and the commercials and the TV show cameos, the money adds up! I could sell half my share to my mom or something, maybe sell pieces of it to some others, I could come up with a few hundred thousand and sell the rest."

"But would you want to?" Akira countered. "Only the top twenty percent cash, and there's no dead money in a tournament like that."

"There'd be dead money in if I was in it," Daisy said jokingly.

"Oh, don't be like that," Takeru chided. "You're not dead money. Although there is definitely dead money in One Drop. Always a handful of billionaires who just want to gamble. But, yeah, don't do One Drop, seriously."

"What if each of us bought ten percent of your stake?" Sammy asked. "Come on, you should do it if that happens."

"I'm not giving Takeru a hundred grand, so that's out of the question," Hido quickly stated. "He's taken enough of my money."

"I'm not doing One Drop," Takeru said, finality in his voice. "I might do every other event this year though." He looked over at the servant girl on the floor. "Oh, and you were great tonight too, thanks."

She snapped her head up to look up at him, face blank, mouth agape slightly at being directly addressed. He smiled at her and winked, on a certain level enjoying her confusion. Hopefully, he had just made her day, or at least given her something different to experience, even if it was something small.

"Alright, alright," Hido said, pointing towards the door. "I'm down fifty grand tonight, so I can only play a gracious host for so long. Everyone go so I can go break something."

Takeru had his eyes on the girl as Hido officially ended the game night, and definitely saw her eyes widen a bit. She started to shake again as well. Takeru didn't need a calculator to put two and two together. Nor did he need one to add up a few other things in his head.

It was just so hard to tell right now, she looked so worn and scared. The months of hard labor outside definitely showed, her skin blotchy and discolored, her hair stringy. But maybe there was a nice looking girl underneath all of that, hidden by the abuse and poor utilization of her skillset.

And something struck a nerve with Takeru specifically. He was used to seeing people who were far less fortunate in life than he was, and it didn't really effect him anymore, but this girl...she looked so pathetic, it was almost like she was part of a different species that experienced a different array of emotions.

"Yo!"

Takeru snapped up, looking over to find Hido standing to his left, waving his hand towards him. "U-uh..."

"That's you too, high roller! Especially you actually, you're the one who got most of the money I lost." He waved both hands towards the door. "See you in a couple days, I need to lick my wounds privately."

Takeru looked around the game room, finding that everyone else had already grabbed their things, cashed out, and left. He had zoned out, looking at the servant girl for what must have been at least a few minutes.

"And what's your obsession with her?" Hido questioned. "Seriously, you got a thing for dirty, small, incompetent brunettes with bad skin now?"

Takeru put his hands in his pockets, turning to look at Hido. "I'll play you for her."

Hido stopped mid-wave towards the door, arms freezing mid-sweep. "I-I'm sorry, what?"

"Her," he pointed at the girl. He noted with satisfaction that she had turned to look at him, eyes wide as saucers, mouth agape. Part of him almost thought of it as a game, giving her surprise after surprise. But he wasn't just trying to get a reaction. "I'll play you heads up for her."

Hido stared at Takeru, forehead wrinkled and eyebrow raised. He glanced over to the girl, then back to him. "I mean, are you serious right now?"

"Yeah," Takeru said, shrugging, acting as if this wasn't an odd offer. "Just you and me, we play a freezeout. You said earlier that that bottle of vintage liqour was worth more than her. That bottle goes for about ten grand, so she's...probably eight?" He nodded. "I'll put up fifteen for her."

"Uh..." Hido said, trying to find words. He pointed at her with his thumb. "I mean, you can see her, right? You're looking at her right now, aren't you?"

"Sure am," Takeru answered, a thin smile on his face. "We play heads up, if you beat me I'll give you fifteen thousand dollars, if I beat you you give me her. You ran bad tonight, here's a chance to make some of it back with reduced risk on your part."

Hido's mouth twitched, fighting to make sense of this. The three people in the room kept glancing at each other, heads rotating around on swivels.

"W...why?" Hido asked. "You're telling me that this girl is worth fifteen grand to you? What is this?"

Takeru shrugged. "I think I can use her. I think I can utilize her better than you can. And she's obviously worth less than that to you, so it's a good offer for you."

"You don't need a doctor to examine her? You don't want to test her?" Hido asked, still wary of this strange offer.

"Yeah, we'll skip all that. Fifteen grand, no inspection. You wanna do it?" Takeru looked back down at her, not even one percent of the wholesale shock having left her expression.

"Uh...I mean, yeah, I'll do it, but...I gotta run it past my father." He pointed over his shoulder. "Technically she's his slave, but I imagine he'll be fine with it." He began backing towards the door. "Give me a few minutes."

He turned and quickly exited the room, taking larger steps than usual, closing the door behind him. Takeru turned to look down at the girl, again giving her a sly little smile.

The room was dead silent for a few seconds, broken only when Takeru took a few steps over towards one of the chairs around the table, spun it around to face away from the table, and sat down in it, putting his hands up behind his head. "Well come on, you must have some kind of opinion. At least something to say—"

"My brother," she said suddenly. Takeru's eyes snapped open, looking at her.

"Hm?"

"M-my brother, he's here too," she said, voice a little hoarse. "Him too, please."

"Not sure what I expected you to say," Takeru mused. "But I definitely didn't expect that."

"My brother's here," she continued. "T-they're gonna kill him for sure, he's half-dead already, I can't leave him here. Sir, please, add him in to the deal, it's his only chance."

"My my," Takeru muttered. "That's actually pretty amazing. You're actually asking me for something." He nodded. "I don't know if I've ever seen a slave ask for something from a non-slave, especially one who's obviously been mistreated as much as you. And right after I throw you a life vest too!"

"I-I'm sorry, sir, b-but...I can't leave my brother here," she lamented, sounding thoroughly miserable.

Takeru puffed a breath out of his nose. "What's your name?"

"Hikari," she answered quickly.

"Pretty name," he said, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. "You just said your brother was already half-dead, right?"

"Y-yes, sir," she admitted with the tone of one who clearly wished she could take that comment back.

"I mean, that's a big problem," Takeru said. "He's a...physical laborer type, I assume? Older brother?"

"Yes sir."

Takeru grimaced. "Well, I have some ability to relate." He shrugged. "I mean, not really, but I have an older brother too. But to tell the truth, I don't really have much need for that sort of slave, and right now there's really not much I could do, I'm sorry."

"P-please, I couldn't bear it if he got left here, I couldn't stand to be separated from him," Hikari continued to beg. He was certainly perplexed by her pushing the matter, and didn't quite know how to feel about it. "And if he stays here, they're going to kill him, they've been torturing him for days already. Please, I promise he'll find a way to be useful to you if you give him a chance." She clasped her hands in front of her chest, looking up at Takeru, eyes starting to water.

"Aw man," Takeru groaned, stretching his legs out and crossing one foot over the other. "What have I gotten into here?" He sighed. "Oh to hell with it, he's not beating me heads up anyway."

A second after those words had left his mouth, the door was flung over, Hido walking back in. "I've got the go-ahead, you've got yourself a deal!" He was genuinely excited. "We'll do it tomorrow night."

"Well, while we're here, why don't we up it a bit?" Takeru said, careful to keep his tone casual. "How about we throw in her brother? You said she had a brother, right?"

Hido opened his mouth to say something, but then immediately closed it, flinching back and looking over at Takeru. "...you...are you, what are you talking about?"

"You're putting her up in the bet," Takeru said, pointing at Hikari, who hadn't gotten up from the floor. "So I'm saying, throw her brother into the deal, I'll fatten up the juice on my end, and we play for that."

"You haven't even seen her brother!" Hido said, surprisingly indignant. "Haven't even been within a hundred feet of him at any point in your life probably!"

"I'll do it blind," Takeru said, shrugging. "Come what may, I'll take my chances."

Hido scoffed, shaking his head. "Look, man, I'd love to say yes, but...we go way back, we're good friends, I'm not gonna do that to you." He pointed with his thumb towards the backside of the house, over his shoulder. "Look, her brother, he's tried to escape twice in the last week. We've been torturing him and are gonna finish him off soon. He can't even walk right now, his days as a slave are done."

Takeru pursed his lips. "Well...then we'll say ten thousand for him." He nodded. "So twenty-five total from me."

"TK, did you not hear me just now? The stuff we've put him through, he can't walk, he can barely talk. If you took one look at him, you'd agree with me! I don't want to rip you off. Ten thousand dollars, he's not even worth ten dollars right now."

"What's been done to him, is it permanent?" Takeru asked speculatively.

Hido shrugged. "I...I mean, we're talking some non-trivial medical treatment. Cost time and money, and no small amounts of either. I guess he could work again with the right care, but why would you bother?"

"I'm willing to deal with that. Ten thousand," Takeru insisted. "If it's not permanent, I'll take my chances."

"Wow, this is...this is so weird." Hido shook his head. "Y-yeah, I'll...I'll do that in a heartbeat, yeah, absolutely, but...why do you...w-wait..." Suddenly, his gaze leveled over at Hikari. "D-did...did she say something to you?"

Takeru remained cool on the outside, but his stomach did a small flip at the question. "W-...well..."

"Oh my God, you are shitting me!" Hido snapped, Hikari finally moving to flinch away from his accusing tone. "I mean, wow. She asked you to get her brother too?"

Takeru shrugged, looking away from Hido. "W-well, yeah, she brought it up."

"That's...wow, I thought I was mad before," he said, glaring daggers at Hikari. "With everything I told you last night, and AFTER you get handed a dream opportunity out of nowhere, you talk out of turn? You talk behind my back?!"

"What's the big deal even?" Takeru asked, voice still steady and calm, trying to keep things on track. "All she did was make it a better deal for you."

"The big deal?" Hido repeated increduously. "The big deal is, she is my slave, I gave her strict orders, and told her that she and her brother were both dead if she put a toe out of line! And now she's talking to my friends behind my back, and...and what the hell is wrong with you? She asks you to do something, and you do it? That's not how this is supposed to work?"

He lunged forward and grabbed Hikari's wrist, pulling her up into a standing position, drawing a moaning gasp from her.

"Well, I guess that's that. You'd think a slave of all people would know to not push a good thing, but you can't fix stupid. At least I know what I'm gonna be breaking tonight to get over losing all that money!"

"U-uh," Takeru said, standing up and putting his palms up towards Hido as he was pulling Hikari towards the door roughly. "Now, I believe we had an arrangement—"

"It's off," Hido grunted. "I'd rather follow through on my promise to her."

Takeru grimaced, watching Hido grab the doorknob. "You'd pass up a deal this good just for something like that?"

"It's the principle of the thing," Hido said through gritted teeth, stopping before he opened the door. "I was very clear with her, and she deliberately got out of line, I'd rather follow through."

Takeru's first instinct was to shrug and abandon this situation. He was already in deeper than he wanted to be, so pulling out and forgetting it might have been smart anyway. His family had plenty of slaves, and could always get more, and there wasn't anything special about this one anyway.

Well, objectively speaking.

And then, Hido opened the door, yanking a wailing Hikari out into the hallway, and Takeru felt the pull. It was the gambler in him, maybe. Perhaps the ego. Something like that. Might have even been the heart. He wasn't sure, but he just couldn't help but pressing his finger on the button a few more times, and see if something happened.

"One hundred thousand," Takeru said suddenly.

At this, Hido froze, Hikari's wrist still firmly in his grasp as the two were about to leave the room.

"What?" Hido said dumbly.

"Each. One hundred thousand, each." Takeru went over to the wall by the door and leaned up against it. "You put those two up, I put up two hundred grand. You beat me, it's all yours. I beat you, I get her and her brother."

Hido chuckled. "I...you're high. You'd never—"

"You've been running bad lately. Not just here, but all around." Takeru licked his lips, continuing to press the buttons until a reaction burst out. "You win one heads up match, and a few weeks of bad luck go away. And all you've got to risk is a couple broken-down slaves."

"That...that's insane," Hido said, nevertheless stepping back into the room and closing the door. "There might be...two slaves a year that go for a hundred grand on the central market, the best of the best of the best."

Takeru shrugged. "Then you should take the deal before I change my mind."

Silence, for several seconds, outside of Hikari breathing heavily.

"You're...you're serious?" Hido asked. "Two hundred grand, and all I've got to put up is her and her brother?"

"Can you afford to say no?" Takeru asked rhetorically.

Hido put his hand up on the wall, tapping it with his fingers. "My...my father would kill me if he found out I turned down a deal like that, I...I guess I don't have a choice." He looked up at Takeru. "But you're an absolute lunatic, this even crossing your mind for a second."

"Then I'm a lunatic giving you an amazing deal," Takeru said. "We'll play tomorrow, make sure Juliet knows."

"Hey, don't think that getting the same dealer means...means what happened tonight is gonna happen again," Hido said, releasing Hikari and letting her slump back to the floor. "I'm due for some good luck. All I need is a little luck. I've been working on my heads up game, so bring the money tomorrow, because it's mine. You wanna go crazy and risk your money like that, I'm happy to stand on the other side and pick it up."

Takeru nodded. "Now...she's already in non-ideal shape," he said, pointing at Hikari. "And her brother...well, you would know better than me how he is. So obviously, I wouldn't want anything putting them in worse shape between now and tomorrow."

Hido nodded, looking at Hikari. "Of course. I wouldn't do that to you."

"When I get here tomorrow I'm gonna have a look at her," Takeru continued. "If I think you've...shall we say, devalued her in any way, I'll turn right back around and take my money with me. And her brother had better still be alive."

"He'll be alive. I'll make sure he's kept alive. But even if you do win, and you won't, nursing him back to health is your problem." His eyes flashed. "And I'll keep her in a cell until tomorrow. Nobody'll do anything."

"I got your word," Takeru said factually. "I trust your word. When I come here tomorrow, we'll see if my trust is valid."

"Don't matter," Hido said, giving Hikari a nasty glance. "It just gives me more time to come up with what I'm going to do with her after I win."

He couldn't blame her for giving the significant shiver that she did at these words.

Takeru extended his hand towards Hido. "Tomorrow night. Heads up. Two hundred grand against her and her brother. Freezeout."

Hido took his hand. "It's on."

After shaking, Takeru spun away and headed for the doorway, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Make sure you bring all the money!" Hido said at his back. "You're gonna need it."

Takeru stalked up the hallway, sweeping away at a bit of sweat that had accumulated up on his forehead just beneath his hairline. He gave his head a good shake, blinking rapidly.

"What the hell am I doing?" he muttered to himself. 


	3. Heat Check

Chapter 3: Heat Check

Takeru gave a couple small grunts and groans as the strong set of fingers dug into the muscles right underneath his shoulder blades, kneading deep into his pale flesh.

He was splayed out on a green, cushioned bench face down, contours and dips placed strategically to mold to his body specifically. His head was on a cushioned ring so he could see, looking down at the floor. He was nude, minus the towel draped over his lower half.

"So how did last night go, sir?" Heather asked, now kneading her fist into Takeru's shoulders.

"Very, very well," Takeru replied, voice vibrating a bit from all the pressure she was putting on him. "So of course I'm gonna risk ruining it all tonight."

"Well, it's like you say. That's the life of a gambler, right?" Heather said, slowly moving down Takeru's back.

"Yeah, suppose so," Takeru mused, relaxing his body, giving Heather full reign over it, letting her do all the work, enjoying the feeling. "But what I'm doing might even go beyond just that. But I'm doing it anyway." He raised his left hand up, pointing his thumb up at his back. "Don't forget to do my favorite part."

"Wouldn't dream of it, sir," she answered. She pulled back from him, reaching down to pull her flats off of her feet. She reached up, grabbing a hold of a horizontal metal pole that ran across the ceiling several feet above Takeru, now standing on the bench. She placed her bare feet onto Takeru's back, slowly easing most of her weight onto Takeru, using the two poles for balance.

Takeru gave a loud grunt as Heather stepped onto him, giving a little bit under the push of just over a hundred pounds of pressure. He felt her toes dig into the flesh as she began slowly walking backwards, hitting strategic spots along his back for maximum effect.

"Ooooh, yes," Takeru groaned. "That's absolute magic!"

The lone door to the small room was suddenly pushed open. Takeru wasn't able to look over to see who was disturbing his massage, but he had a reasonable guess.

"So, do you just not understand the phrase 'Do Not Disturb'?" Takeru said, voice uneven from the continued pressure on his lower back.

"Honestly, I see that thing hanging on the door, it makes me want to disturb even more."

"Well, you better have a good reason," Takeru said, wincing slightly, the weight of Heather causing a bit of discomfort, but doing such good work to relieve tension it was more than worth it in the long run.

"I don't need a good reason. I don't need any reason. I'm your older brother, that's how this works, right?"

A pair of highly polished black shoes came into Takeru's view, further confirming it was Yamato.

"Hey there, Heather," Yamato said, Takeru rolling his eyes.

"Good afternoon, sir," she replied, still focusing on her task atop Takeru's back.

"For the last time, my name is Yamato, you call me Yamato." Yamato reached his right hand forward, grabbing Heather's right foot and getting his fingers underneath it, rapidly pulsing his fingertips into her sole. Heather immediately tried to jerk away from his strong grip, using the poles to keep from falling over.

"Oahah, stahahaap! StaahahAHAP!" she cackled, trying to pull away without jumping off the massage bench.

"What's my name? What's my name?" Yamato said teasingly, grinning.

"YahaHAAMATO! YAMATO!" she cried, getting him to finally let go of her foot.

"Okay, seriously, please, go away," Takeru said. "I'm asking nicely, this is one notch away from being sexual harrassment, I'm naked here. You wanna flirt, make an appointment with her."

"Oh, you think THIS is how I flirt?" Yamato said. "If I was flirting, I'd be the one laying on that bench right now with her on top of me." He cleared his throat. "Okay, real quick, me, Toma, and Yusei are gonna golf tonight, but we don't have a fourth yet, you up for it?"

"Love to, but tonight's not good," Takeru answered quickly. "I'm going to the Sasaki's tonight."

"Alright, no problem," Yamato said, turning around towards the door. "Weren't you there last night? What are you doing there again?"

"Something stupid as hell, but I'm gonna do it anyway," Takeru said.

"At least you can admit it," Yamato said. "A lot of people can't even admit that much." He was about to leave, but stopped in the doorway. "It's not drugs is it? Nothing illegal?"

"No. Not illegal. Just stupid," Takeru said, trying to end the conversation in as few words as possible.

"Well, then I guess I'll pass on playing protective older brother this time," he said jokingly. "Don't get hurt." He closed the door behind him, immediately silencing the ambient sounds from outside.

"Y...You think that was flirting?" Heather asked, resuming the process of walking atop Takeru's back.

"Don't even think about it, you don't want anything to do with him," Takeru said dryly. "He flirts with every pretty girl he sees, probably does it a hundred times a day. He's not worth it."

"If any woman knows how to appreciate the value of a one-night stand, it's me," Heather countered.

"Just, trust me, stay away. Biggest sleezeball in the world," Takeru joked. "Let's go an extra half-hour today, I really want to be...dialed in for tonight."

OOO

~Hikari~

Hikari didn't know anything about money. She had never needed to know anything about money. She had never had any, it had no meaning to her. She knew it's purpose in society, but anything beyond the most general description was lost on her.

But a hundred thousand dollars *sounded* like an awful lot.

She knew that she had been sold for ten thousand dollars a few months ago when her previous masters had decided to move to a more tropical location and sell as many assets as they could. Taichi had gone for fifteen thousand. She vaguely recalled something about her going at a discount if she was bought with her brother. What could have happened over the last few months to change her value so much? How could someone in her brother's condition be worth so much more than he had been in peak physical condition? What was she not seeing? And if this Takeru did win the bet, what would she be expected to do that was worth so much to him?

She hadn't slept at all last night, simply laying on the floor in a cell in the basement of the manor. At the very least, Hido had kept his word and had refrained from harming her in any way, though she had not seen Taichi. She assumed that he was still alive based on what had been said last night, but the doubt chewed at her. Thoughts and fears kept her from getting a moment of rest.

Despite all that, she was wide awake, fully alert. Hido had taken her to the game room and told her to sit in a chair right by the same table that had been fully occupied the night before. She was alone in the large room right now, nothing but her and her thoughts. The table had only three chairs around it, two on opposite sides of the table and the third near the middle, opposite side of where Hikari sat. The two chairs on the ends of the table were placed in front of stacks of multicolored chips that looked to be about the same size, and the middle chair had two stacks of playing cards in front of it.

Now, she actually cared about the game. Cared about the rules, how to play it well, and how you won or lost it. She tried to cull her memories of last night, glean some understanding of the game from what she had heard, but it all may as well have been a different language. She would have to learn on the fly to have any idea of where her fate was pointing.

Never in her life had she ever wanted something more than for Takeru to win this game. She would have done anything to make it so, given anything, had she anything to give. Surely, no matter what kind of person he was and what he had planned for her and her brother, it could not possibly be worse than Hido. And it was likely going to be much, much better. Just about anything would be better than staying here.

The door was pushed open, Hido entering, followed closely by Takeru. Takeru was carrying a black case in his right hand.

"I understand what he did," Takeru said, going over towards the table. "It's just...you're a guy too, I just kind of can't believe that you could do that to someone and be...proud of it. Even a slave."

"I wouldn't do it to a good slave," Hido replied, going over to the opposite side of the table and grabbing the chair, pulling it out a bit. "Even an okay or average slave. He tried to escape twice in the span of two days, what do you want from me?"

"Hey, I've been a part of punishing slaves too," Takeru said, sitting down in the chair to the right of Hikari. "We all have, it's part of life, but that's just...I mean, that's just sick."

"Well, that's how things work around here," Hido said. "Now pass it over."

Takeru placed the case on the table and slid it over to Hido. He grabbed it and flipped the two golden latches on the front of it, throwing it open. Revealed as the content were stacks of green paper slips. Hido's whole body jolted at the sight. He quickly picked up one of them, looking it over and flipping through it.

"Alright, eight packs, all here," Hido said, closing the case after replacing the pack, then picking up the case and setting it underneath the table.

The door opened again, the brown-haired short woman from yesterday entering the room quietly. She was called Juliet, to her recollection, though why she was here Hikari wasn't quite sure. She must have had some role in playing the game without being a participant.

"I won't say that your brother is well," Takeru said, looking over at Hikari. She flinched, back straightening out at being directly addressed. "But he's alive."

"Don't talk to my slave," Hido said through gritted teeth as Juliet went over to the third seat at the table.

"Is she really your slave right now?" Takeru asked. "She's kind of in limbo right now between you and me until this game is over."

"She's still mine," he said. "Don't talk to her." He looked over at her. "I want you to sit in that chair and watch," he said, voice harsh. "Watch me take him out and crush your little life raft. I want you to watch me win, watch me effectively end your life. But you keep your mouth closed."

Takeru looked over at her and winked. "Alright, Juliet, let's make it pop."

Hikari felt a warm glow of relief at hearing Takeru promise her that Taichi was still alive, but none of it mattered if this didn't go her way. She needed this man to come through, and she had no ability to control what happened.

Now that it concerned her so much, she took some time to size up Takeru more closely. Of above-average height with a slim but firm build, he certainly looked like a much more desirable master than Hido. His pale face was bright and welcoming, big eyes and blond hair that seemed just a tiny bit messy by design. He wore a light tan waistcoat and jacket, along with neatly pressed brown pants and tan shoes that reflected like mirrors. She had seen outfits on people before at the house parties her prior masters had thrown. A sign of wealth and importance.

Juliet took one of the stacks of cards and spread them out in front of her in a row, then began mixing them all up in a big pile in the middle of the table.

"So, we both have ten thousand in chips," Hido said, pointing at the two stacks. "Blinds are fifty and a hundred, they go up every half-hour. Tonight, white chips are fifty, green chips are one hundred, black chips are five hundred, red chips are a thousand. No limit, table stakes."

"It's your house, you can start with the button," Takeru said, pointing over at Hido. He grabbed a green chip and flipped it towards the middle of the table. Hido took a white chip and flipped it in as well.

Juliet had taken this time to condense the messy pile of cards into a neat stack yet again. She divided them into two stacks and bent them towards each other, letting both piles cascade down at the same time so they'd get mixed, before pulling it all into one pile again. She tossed a card to Hido, then one to Takeru, then one to Hido, and one to Takeru.

Hido looked at his two cards, careful to peek at them so only he could see them. He grabbed a white clip and tossed it in. "Call."

Takeru quickly knocked his knuckles on the table. "Deal it."

OOO

Takeru pursed his lips, long fingers expertly manipulating a small stack of chips around, shuffling them, stacking them, cutting the stack in half, then doing it all over again. The neverending sounds of the chips clacking around had hardly stopped since the game started, grating on Hikari's nerves even as she despaired of understanding what she was watching. She had seen about fifteen rounds between the two so far, still trying to figure out what was going on, what anything meant, what constituted winning or losing.

"Alright," Takeru mumbled to himself. "Limp pre-flop...check the flop...check-raise the turn...bet the pot the river." As he spoke, he kept his eyes trained on Hido, who sat there stone-faced. "No way you played Kings like that."

To Hikari, he may as well have been speaking a long-extinct language. She looked at the five cards face-up on the table between the two young men. They may as well have been from a dead dialect as well. There was a black card with a K and a funny symbol on the upper left corner, a red eight with a diamond beneath it, a red J with a heart, a red four with a heart, and a black two with another strange symbol. What did it mean?

"Maybe...ten nine of hearts?" Takeru said, still shuffling the chips around in front of him. Suddenly, he glanced up at Hikari. "Yeah, you don't know anything about poker, do you? I'm sorry, this must be so...frustrating for you to watch, not knowing anything." He gave a sardonic little chuckle.

"Don't talk to my slave," Hido grunted. "We've been over this."

Takeru blinked a couple times. "Right. Alright. So...nine ten of hearts...or ace king offsuit. That's what I'm thinking." He leaned back slightly. "What to do...what to do...alright, I think you've got the nine ten, you missed your straight and flush and you're trying to bluff." His hands reached up and took a couple stacks of colored chips off his piles. "Eight hundred to call and I raise another eight hundred." He threw a red chip, black chip, and green chip into the middle.

Immediately, Hido plucked up a red chip of his own and tossed it to the center. "I call. I got you."

Takeru grimaced. "Ace king?"

Hido turned his cards over, revealing a red ace with a heart and a black K with an odd symbol. "That's right!"

Hikari felt a pang of dread in her stomach as Hido reached towards the middle of the table.

Immediately, casually, Takeru flipped over his two facedown cards. Two black eights. Hido froze, hand reaching out towards the chip pile. An uneasily silence hung in the air.

"Never said I couldn't beat ace king," Takeru said.

Hido waited a beat, then slowly leaned back in his chair, giving Takeru a displeased look as the blond reached forward, Juliet pushing the chips over towards him, taking two green chips out and throwing them over to Hido.

"That was a slowroll," Hido grumbled. "Thought you were better than that."

"No it wasn't." Takeru stacked his new chips. "I was trying to induce a call, it's gamesmanship."

"You grimaced when you said ace king like it had you beat," he retorted.

"Yeah, because I read it wrong." Takeru took the deck from Hido. "Come on, I flipped the cards up immediately. Not like I had the nuts."

"Blinds going up, hundred two hundred," Juliet said, taking the cards back in and mixing them up again.

"Chip check," Takeru said. "I've got...twelve thousand four hundred. Wow, first pot of real significance tonight." He looked over at Hido. "Why would you limp in with ace king? Pretty sneaky play actually, could have easily worked out if I didn't flop the set."

Hido remained silent, tossing a green chip into the middle. Takeru tossed in two green chips.

"Think about it though, I did all that talking and then I raised. If I couldn't beat ace king I'd just call," Takeru said, sounding almost as if he was lecturing.

"Hey, you wanna shut up?" Hido snapped.

Hikari had to fight to not smile.

OOO

You couldn't watch poker for over an hour without at least picking up on something.

Most of the cards had numbers on them, as low as two and as high as ten. That was pretty easy. The J card was called a jack, the Q card was a queen, the K was a king, and the A was an ace.

The cards were either red or black. The red cards had either a diamond or a heart on them. The black cards also had one of two symbols, and she had figured out one was called a club and the other a spade.

It seemed like the cards without numbers were better than the cards with numbers. So far, that was all she had managed to figure out for sure. It seemed like the cards that were in the middle were matched with each players' private cards, and whoever used them best won.

"Min raise," Takeru said, tossing a red chip and two green chips into the middle. Hido immediately tossed in a black chip and three green chips.

"Hey, you scoop this pot, we'll be pretty close to even," Takeru said, looking over at Hido. "I've got ten thousand four hundred behind."

"I should be considered the winner already, staying alive and keeping my stack stable with the garbage I keep getting dealt," Hido grumbled.

Juliet took a card from the top of the stack, set it to the side, and then placed the next three face up. Three of clubs, ace of spades, nine of diamonds.

Hido tapped the table, Takeru immediately doing the same. Juliet set another card face down to the side, then flipped up the next one. Five of spades.

Tap. Tap.

Another card to the side, another one face up. Ten of hearts.

Hido looked at the cards for several seconds, holding his hands up in front of his face, steepling them together. Slowly, he reached towards his chip stack, grabbing two black chips and pulling them forward. "One thousand," he said quietly.

Takeru glanced over to Hido, right arm propped up on the edge of the table, then looked back to the cards. The room was silent now, Takeru not even talking as his eyes went back and forth between his opponent and the cards.

"I'm folding," he finally said after nearly a minute, grabbing his cards and flipping them up, showing the ace of clubs and king of clubs.

Hido gave a sigh of annoyance, leaning back in his chair. "H-how do you...top top, I bet less than a third of the pot, and...how do you do that? How can you not pay me off?"

"Ace nine?" Takeru asked, smirking slightly as Juliet pushed the chips in the middle over towards Hido, who took them without looking overly happy about it. Hido flicked the cards over to Juliet. "I really just felt like I was beat somehow, it just felt way too trappy. Maybe you had ten nine suited or something. Come on, cheer up, we're practically tied now!"

Hikari wasn't sure how to feel. Chips getting pushed over to Hido was bad, but Takeru sounded so happy and Hido so agitated it didn't seem bad. What did it all mean?

The cards were put out again to the two players. Hido threw out four green chips, a little harder than his previous chip tosses. Takeru tapped the table with his knuckles.

Juliet set out three cards on the table again. Eight of diamonds, seven of diamonds, queen of diamonds.

Takeru tapped the table. Hido immediately grabbed two black chips and tossed them into the center. "One thousand," he muttered, still a bit upset clearly.

Takeru pondered for a few seconds, tapping his fingers on the table, before grabbing two black chips and following suit. "I call," he said.

A fourth card came down. Ten of clubs.

Takeru tapped the table again. Hido almost couldn't wait to fire out two red chips and a green chip. "Two thousand one hundred," he announced.

Takeru rested his face on top of his fist, propping his elbow on the edge of the table. He looked at the cards, then over to Hido. "I'm all-in."

Hido's entire body seem to spasm, and he visibly winced. "Wow, wow, why did I...why'd I bet that turn, why'd I..."

He rubbed his hands all over his face, seemingly in pain. Hikari watched, fascinated. Takeru sat there, still as a statue.

"Oh, man," Hido continued to grunt. "D-don't do it, Hido, just don't, please," he muttered to himself. "Come on, he thinks you're a huge station, thinks you don't know how to throw away a hand with showdown value, he wants you to call. He thinks you're on tilt, he's got the nuts, he has to have it."

He looked at the cards in the middle throw the gaps in his fingers. "Ace of diamonds and...four of diamonds, something like that, has to be. He thinks I'm on tilt, that I'll call anything if I have a queen." He looked over at Takeru, who was giving away nothing. "Look at him, he wants you to call."

He gave a few heaving breaths, a vein in his forehead starting to pulse.

"Just...come on, let it go, he wouldn't do this without the nuts, he's got too much money at risk." Hido made a sudden move towards his chip stack, but then pulled back. "Guh! Just toss it, just do it."

Finally, after several seconds, he grabbed his cards and tossed them over to Juliet.

Takeru smirked. "You're half right. I had the nut blocker."

Takeru flipped over one of his cards, exposing the ace of diamonds.

And then the second. Seven of spades.

Hido jumped out of his chair, pounding the table with his fist. "Are you...SHIT!" He wiped his forehead off with his right hand. "You're bluffing there? You're bluffing me there?!"

"It's a semi-bluff," Takeru said, pushing the cards over to Juliet as Juliet pushed the pile of chips over to Takeru. "If I get a seven, an ace, or a diamond on the river I win."

"I had a queen," he groaned. "I was ahead! I had a queen!"

"I knew you had a queen," Takeru said. "If you didn't bet the turn that might have not happened."

Slowly, Hido sat back down as Takeru stacked his chips and Juliet began shuffling the deck again. "Oooohhhh...so tilted. So tilted."

"You've still got like six thousand," Takeru said.

"That was it, I could have gotten it in as the favorite, god..."

Hikari's heart had nearly stopped during multiple points of that exchange, but the end result was a wave of relief washing over her. That felt hugely significant, and her fate seemed to be in better shape now.

OOO

"Jacks up," Takeru said, flipping over a jack of clubs and a nine of hearts.

Hido gave a grunt of annoyance, tossing his cards over to Juliet without flipping them up. "God damn river cards."

"Blinds going up, five hundred one thousand," Juliet said, taking all the cards back in.

"I...I had a freaking queen," Hido sighed.

"That hand was like fifteen minutes ago, move on," Takeru said, stacking the chips as Juliet passed them to him.

"All night long, just need one decent hand, one chipup, I'm right back in it, can't catch a freaking break. Just one stupid double-up and I can do something."

"Hey, pat yourself on the back that you've still got chips," Takeru said jovially. "I can't shake you, you're staying alive."

"It's coming," Hido said, sitting up straight as Juliet dealt out a new set of cards. "I can't possibly run this bad for this long, something is coming. I've played better than you so far tonight to still be alive."

"It's been two hours now. Can't lie, thought I'd have you by now," Takeru said, nodding. "You should feel good."

"Oh, bite me," Hido said, looking down at his two cards. "I'll feel good as soon as I get my double-up and turn this match around." He gave his head a little shake. "It's coming, I'm due. I'm overdue." He tossed a red chip and a black chip in. "Raise min."

Takeru raised an eyebrow over at him, then turning to look at his stacks of chips. "How much you got left there, Hido?"

"About twenty-two hundred," Hido said immediately, looking down at the rather sad looking pair of red chips and pair of green chips he still had.

Takeru stared down at Hido for several seconds, face wrinkled in confusion. "I call," he said, grabbing a red chip from one of his stacks and putting it in.

Juliet put a card to the side, then took the next three from the top of the stack. Hikari still felt that cold rock in her stomach, even as the match came closer to ending in her favor. Every hand seemed to be gut-wrenchingly important, massive amounts of chips changing hands with each one. Hido kept dancing closer and closer to jumping ahead, even as Takeru was able to consistently repel him.

Ace of hearts, ten of hearts, three of clubs.

Takeru considered this trio of cards for several seconds. "I check," he said, pointing over to Hido.

"I'm all-in," Hido said immediately, tossing his last four chips in.

Takeru immediately sighed, leaning back, looking up at the ceiling. "Wow. Wow wow wow. Oh man, not even one free card." He looked back over at Hido. "Twenty-two hundred?"

Hido nodded, holding his hands steepled in front of his face.

"Well. I'll tell you this." Takeru took a moment to look back at his two cards again. "You might just be getting that double-up." He shook his head. "I almost folded pre-flop, but my hand was just a little too good, now I almost have to go with it. But I think you've got two aces."

Hido's forehead wrinkled at Takeru's guess.

"Yeah, two aces. You min raised pre-flop, figuring I'd call with almost anything, or maybe even put you all-in and you could snap me off. You didn't want to risk getting zero value out of aces so you min raised. And now you've hit your set. Got the nuts. Don't want to see another heart come off." He heaved another sigh again. "I don't think I can fold this hand, but that'd be pretty sick if I did. Especially if you do have two aces. You'd flop the nuts and not get any value from it, I'd be pretty proud of that."

Hikari tried to translate Takeru's words into something of meaning to her, but came up stone dry.

"I mean, you wouldn't expect me to fold for this much more," Takeru added. "Maybe you have ace-ten, maybe even ace king." He shrugged. "On the other hand, whatever you have, I'm not in horrible shape. Even if you have aces, I have a ton of outs."

Hido's head twisted slightly to look at Takeru more directly.

"If you have aces, I'm a two-to-one underdog, but I'm still getting the right price. If you have two pair, I'm a little better off. Just an ace, you're only a bit ahead." He shrugged. "Tens and we're flipping but...you don't just have a pair of tens."

Takeru seemed almost agonized, which Hikari sensed was bad, though she wasn't sure what was so bad based off what he was saying. If she understood anything he said in the slightest, of course.

"Okay. Okay." He covered his hands with his face. "The math says do it. The situation says don't give you a double-up when I'm sure I'm behind. But...I've never gotten one before!" He scoffed a little bit. "Ten years of cards, playing almost every day, I've never gotten one, I just wanna see if this is the time!"

Hido continued to hold quiet, though he seemed to be shaking a little bit now.

Takeru gestured to Hikari. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be taking goofy risks when I know I'm behind just to see if I can hit a miracle, your life is on the line. But I don't think I can resist." He looked back to Hido. "Even if he wins this one, he's still only got...eight thousand four hundred." He stood up from his chair, and pointed at his chips. "I call."

Immediately, Hido jumped up and flipped over his cards. Ace of spades, ace of clubs. "Okay, come on! Let me hold up with the nuts, one time!"

Takeru flipped his cards up. King of hearts, jack of hearts.

"Come on, don't do it, I deserve to win one! I'm ahead, I've got the best hand, just let it hold up!" Hido went around to table to stand right next to Juliet, hands on his hips.

"Alright," Takeru said, nodding. "Pretty simple. Queen makes a straight, heart makes a flush." He clapped a couple times. "Let's see it."

"Just pair the board!" Hido yelled, causing Juliet to flinch away slightly from the volume. "No drama on the river, just pair the board!"

Juliet set a card to the side, then flipped the next one up. Three of diamonds. Takeru winced, and Hido spun around, pumping his fist.

"YES!" Hido cried. "Full house!"

"Well, there go most of my outs," Takeru said quietly.

At this, Hido froze mid-fist pump, spinning back around. "W-what?"

Almost meekly, Takeru pointed at the table. "Well, a heart won't do it and a queen won't do it, but...there's still the queen OF hearts."

"Oh, ohhh," Hido groaned, coming back over to the table. "Nothing easy, everything, pulling teeth, all day long, please, don't do it to me!"

"I've got one out," Takeru said, raising an eyebrow at Hido. "Come on dude, you're acting like you're the one in danger, I have less than three percent equity."

Hido ignored Takeru. "Okay, okay. Make it black, black card. Blank, make it a...deuce, no paint!"

Takeru rolled his eyes, Hido leaning over the table now, staring at the space where the fifth card would be put down. He then gave Hikari a bit of a pained look and shrug.

"Okay, one card left in the deck that can get me there," Takeru said, sounding a bit strained. "I've never gotten one of these before, so...I mean, why not? Queen of hearts, queen of hearts. If it doesn't come, I can beat him anyway, no big deal."

Juliet took the top card and set it over to the side. Hikari had to fight to not stand up to get a better look at the table. She put things together enough to realize things weren't looking good. The stack of cards Juliet held in her left hand had to had at least a few dozen cards, so knowing that apparently only one would be good for Takeru was clearly a problem. She could tell that even without any real knowledge of math.

But one was better than zero.

Juliet took the card, hesitated for a moment, and then flipped it up on the table.

Hikari processed things in segments. Immediately, she saw the fancy design on the front of the card, meaning it wasn't a number card, and it was definitely red. The design, as well as the letter on the top left corner, marked it as a queen. And finally, with what felt like a jolt of electricity shooting through her, she saw the small heart logo.

Queen of hearts.

"Are you FU...are you..." Hido snapped, spinning around violently, walking over to one of the other tables and grabbing an empty chair, throwing it towards the wall. "A one-outer?! A one-outer?! Are you shitting me?"

"Wow," Takeru said, not having moved from his spot, standing by his seat. "You are running bad." He slowly began to stride around the table, towards Juliet.

"That was it! That was the hand!" Hido wailed, fuming. "That was the double-up, momentum, everything! I win that hand, I KNOW I win the match!" He turned back around, stalking over towards the table. "Great dealing, mighty fine work!" he snapped. "I'm card dead for nearly two hours over there, I'm fighting tooth and nail to stay alive, I'm still in there, you flop me the nuts, and then you give him a one-outer?!"

Takeru still seemed almost shocked into a non-reaction, just staring down at the cards. "My first one ever. And I get it when I need it to win a hand." He shrugged. "Can't make that up."

Hido went back around the table, going over towards Takeru's chipstacks, slapping his hands at the chips as he walked by, scattering them to the floor with a violent clatter.

All the while, Hikari just sat there, frozen solid, processing everything. It seemed to take minutes for all the pieces to come together in her head, but as they did, she couldn't stop her face from splitting into a grin, slowly overtaking her look of absolute shock. She looked up at Takeru, feeling a great degree of warmth flooding over her.

"You mind if I keep these five cards?" Takeru asked, reaching forward and grabbing the ace, ten, and queen from the board, then reaching over and taking his king and jack.

"Uh, whatever!" Hido snapped. "Sure, take more of my stuff while you're at it!"

Takeru looked the five cards over. "Ten years of cards, first one ever." He plucked out the queen, slipping the other four into his chest pocket. "Hey, Hikari, it's Hikari, right?" He reached his hand out, holding the queen out. "This card might have saved your life, how about you have it?"

Hikari's smile instantly faded, staring at Takeru's hand, completely unsure of what to do as he held the card out to her.

"What's wrong, you don't want it?" Takeru asked, shaking it out towards her. "It won't bite, it's a card!"

Hikari gave herself a little shake. "S-sorry, sir...master, I..." she reached forward and took it. "I...I'm not used to people giving me things."

Takeru gave her a small smile. "Just don't lose it or tear it, you should keep that one near and dear to you. Who knows what happens if that match continued." He went down on one knee by the table, grabbing the black case in his right hand.

"The way you treat your slaves sickens me, you know?" Hido said, clearly still furious at how things had played out. "Amazing to me that your casino is as successful as it is."

Takeru stood back up. "You played well tonight. I actually am sorry for the suckout, no joke."

"I don't want you to be sorry, I want to beat you!" Hido whined. Juliet stood up from the chair. "Yeah, time for you to go too, thanks for nothing!"

Juliet silently walked past Hido towards the door, unaffected by his verbal abuse.

"I'll make sure you get a nice boon on your next paycheck for that one," Takeru said as Juliet opened the door.

"Thank you, sir," she said, closing the door behind her.

Hido sighed. "Yeah. Just what I needed after all the bad luck over the last month." He looked over at Hikari. "When she disappoints you like I know she will, feel free to bring her back here. I'll dispose of her for you."

Hikari couldn't help but shiver slightly, even though his words were largely toothless at this point.

"Alright, Hido, you know the deal." Takeru motioned for Hikari to stand up. "My ride's parked out on the tarmac, I'm gonna need a wheeled gurney for her brother."

Hido's nostrils flared as he sighed. But finally, he shrugged. "Alright. They're all yours." He gave a small chuckle. "Both useless lumps anyway, take em, means nothing to me."

Hikari finally got to her feet, hands nervously clutching onto the card Takeru had given her, fighting the urge to start sobbing with relief.

"Let's go," Takeru said, jerking his head towards the door. "You're coming with me." 


	4. A Speculative Hand

Chapter 4: A Speculative Hand

Leaving five trails of thin red lines behind it, the titanium-colored jet zipped through the air, easily slicing through the air with a sleek design, breaking the sound barrier a few times over. Cutting up above the clouds, rendering it impervious to any weather conditions, the ride was quickly stabilized. To those inside, it felt as if they weren't moving at all.

Hikari didn't know such things existed. That such things could exist. It was almost terrifying that such a thing existed. She would have been terrified for sure riding inside of the thing, but there was no room in her mind for terror right now. Everything that had just happened was too amazing, too relieving.

Taichi had been placed in the bedroom of the jet, a small chamber towards the back and right of the jet, mercifully sedated. The rest of the interior of the plane consisted of a closed-off chamber up front for the pilots, and then the primary room. Everything was cream colored, a fine wood finish on the walls, gleaming with polish. There were about a dozen chairs around the room, a pair of large black screens against the left wall, and a mahogany cabinet with glass doors, showing a few rows of multi-colored bottles and about thirty glass tumblers against the back wall. A thick carpet on the floor completed the chamber.

Takeru was seated in one of the seats, near the front left of the room, left leg crossed over his right and a tumbler filled with a brown liquid and a couple cubes of ice in his right hand. Hikari had finally gotten over the amazement of being so far above the ground, moving so quickly, and had gotten to the ground in front of Takeru. Kneeling, she put her head down to the floor.

"Thank you so much, master," she said. "I owe you my life, and my brother owes you his life. I don't know why you've done this, I can't even begin to understand it, but you have my word that I'll never forget this. Whatever you ask of me, I give you my word that I'll do it, it's the absolute least I can do."

"Thank you," Takeru said. "That means a lot to me," He waved upwards. "Alright, that's enough, point is made, get up."

She rose up, slowly getting to her feet, enjoying the feeling of the carpet, a luxury she had rarely enjoyed in recent months.

"And master is no good, that's not okay, makes me sound like an old man. You say master, I'm looking over my shoulder to see if you're talking to my father or something. Sir will be fine." Takeru sipped from his drink. "Sir is good."

"Yes sir," Hikari said, nodding as she stood up.

Takeru glanced out the circular window, out into the darkened skies around the jet. "Like the ride? Twentieth birthday present from my parents."

"I've never seen anything so amazing in my life," Hikari said. "Uh, sir."

Takeru grinned. "You should see the big ones. Brittania just released one that seats three hundred people." He leaned towards the window, looking towards the rear. "Those trails we're leaving behind us dissipate ninety-nine point seven percent within three seconds," he said. "Leaves so little pollution behind, it basically doesn't leave any. I could drive this thing around at top speed for a week and leave as much pollution as a car does in half an hour."

Hikari just stood there, blankly nodding.

"Well, go ahead, you're either going to ask questions now or be confused later," Takeru said, waving at her. "Oh, and I should thank you as well." He reached into his chest pocket, pulling out the four playing cards. "First one ever, never would have happened if not for you."

"What do you mean? First one ever?" Hikari looked down at the card in her right hand, examining the queen of hearts.

"Oh, right," Takeru said, rolling his eyes and lightly smacking himself on the forehead. "Of course. Okay, so, long story short, the goal in poker is to make the best five-card hand using a combination of your two private cards and the five public cards in the middle of the table. The best possible hand you can make is called a royal flush, which is getting a ten, jack, queen, king and ace, all of the same suit. Odds of getting one are nearly thirty-one thousand to one. Just a little more than three one thousandths of a percent. Very, very rare. I've been playing poker for ten years, never have I gotten one. I know people who have been playing for thirty years, haven't gotten one. So it's pretty amazing, and...well, if it wasn't for you being there, wouldn't have happened."

Hikari nodded. "I...I see." She pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. "W-well, w-why did you want me? If I might ask, sir. What made you want me?"

Takeru sipped from his drink again. "I'm a practical, sensible person, I like common sense and logic. So I was sitting there last night, listening to Hido babbling about how...how you're going to figure out how to work in the field or else, how he doesn't care that you're clearly not made for outdoor work...I don't like it."

He reached up towards the collar of his shirt, placing his thumb and forefinger on a spot near the right corner. "How far out are we? Alright, thanks." He then tapped his collar a few times. "It's Takeru, I'm gonna hit the tarmac in about eighteen minutes, pad number three. I need Miss Tanaka and Doctor Roberts waiting there. Thank you."

He looked back up to Hikari. "Sorry, anyway...I mean, think about it. If you were a musician, and someone gave you a few instruments and told you to...put together a piece with the instruments you've been given, you'd use the instruments in the way they were designed to be used." He sipped from his drink again. "You wouldn't...take a tuba and...put guitar strings along the mouth and try to use it as a makeshift guitar. You'd use the tuba like a tuba, right?"

Hikari simply stood there, looking at him blankly, nodding after a moment.

"U-uh...you don't...you don't know what a tuba is, do you?" Takeru said after a moment.

"No sir, I'm sorry," she said. "Or a guitar."

"Ummm...okay. If you had a cake, and you needed to slice it up to serve, you'd use a knife. You wouldn't use a spoon. And if you saw someone using a spoon to slice up a cake, you'd think that was odd. Is that better?"

"Yes sir," Hikari said. "So...w-what do you have in mind for me?"

Takeru leaned back, sucking a deep breath through his nose. "I'm not entirely sure yet. I have an idea, but I won't know for a few days. It will be something, something appropriate. What did you do at the Ripley estate?"

"I waited on house parties, I cleaned up after meals, I served their children, I did some work in the kitchen, and I kept the house in order," Hikari said quickly. "Standard house slave duties."

Takeru nodded. "It...could be something like that, but...this could be a little different for you. You'll be working for the family business, so you won't be working inside of a house. You might be doing things like that regardless."

"What's your family business?" Hikari asked.

Takeru gave her a small smile. "My family runs a casino, The Mecca. Biggest casino in the region. One hundred and fifty thousand square feet, every game you can think of, thirty-two restaurants, day spa, and two hundred hotel rooms. It's..."

Hikari's facial expression remained unchanged as Takeru ran down the details of his family business, causing him to grind his explanation to a halt.

"...and, you don't know what a casino is, do you?" Takeru said.

"I'm sorry sir, I'm afraid not," Hikari said, shaking her head.

"Right, right. Uh, well...it's a very, very large facility, and it's filled with all kinds of games you can pay to play. Some games you play against...the other people, others you play against the casino. It's gambling. That's the main thing. There are thousands of casinos in the world, this is one of the bigger ones. There's also, uh, food, the spa, several years ago we expanded into a hotel and resort area, so there's a lot going on."

Hikari gave a quick nod. "Yes sir, that's makes sense."

"Over twenty years ago, before I was born, my father bought a space in a strip mall, a few thousand square feet, turned it into a casino. Called it The Palace. It wasn't much, a few dozen slot machines, a couple dozen tables, a bar and restaurant. I've seen pictures of the place, don't really remember it." He leaned in towards Hikari. "But the trick was, quite simply, my father's utter devotion to the place. He made the best of every single inch of that space. He had a vision in his mind of what the casino would be, and he spent his life making the reality match his vision. Every person he ever brought in to work there, he made sure they were the best at what they did. The dealers, efficient and smooth in running the games. Waiters and waitresses knew the menu backwards and forwards, remembered every detail of every order. The bartenders, they remembered everyone's face and your favorite orders, you could look at them and they'd get your favorite drink. The chefs, they could have just been short-orders and nobody would have minded, but he made sure they were masters, and made sure they had the best ingredients to work with. People loved the place. Within a couple years, every night, filled to capacity, not a chair or a machine open, money flowing in like a waterfall."

Hikari hung onto every word Takeru had to say, finding herself oddly fascinated by being told so many things. It was not typical for one in her role to be given details about anything. Quite the opposite, it was more like she'd be told as little as possible unless it involved her directly.

"He ended up buying out the space one over and knocking out the wall to add more machines and tables. Didn't take long for it to start filling up again anyway." He smiled again, pride at his father's accomplishments clearly showing. "So, back when I was still in shortpants, he got busy. He made deals, took out loans, found backers, pulled out every trick he could...and he got his hands on enough money to make his real dream come true. Started building a big boy casino right in the heart of the big city. Somehow, the crazy guy kept The Palace running while constructing The Mecca, and that should really tell you something about the man." He leaned back, putting his hands up behind his head. "After a year, The Mecca opened. But to him, not much changed. Everything still had to be perfect, and he wouldn't rest until that was the case. Only difference was there was now a lot more to think about. But he didn't mind. And because of that, there's no better casino on the planet, and no casino makes more money. I'm telling you all this so you understand what's expected of you, if you work in my father's casino."

"Understood, sir," Hikari quickly replied. "I'll be as perfect as your father needs me to be."

"His name is Hiroaki Ishida," Takeru said. "Effectively, he'll be your master. The reason why I'm telling you all this is so you understand what's going to be expected of you. We treat our slaves very well, and we ask for perfection in return. Fall short of his expectations, it reflects poorly on me, and we'll toss you out to auction without a thought."

"Absolutely," Hikari said. "I can tell your father has worked extremely hard on his business, I wouldn't dare try to tarnish that."

"Alright. Tangent over," Takeru said. "We'll be landing in a little more than ten minutes and I'll pass you and your brother off."

Hikari's eyes flashed at the mention of her brother. She had nearly forgotten about his circumstances. "A-and, Taichi, my brother, what of him?"

"Still trying to figure that out," Takeru said. "I'm confident that our medical staff can get him back to full health in a few weeks. I suppose we could use some help in the kitchen, getting the ingredients from the delivery trucks to the storage room, something like that."

She nodded. She couldn't have hoped for much better. "One more...w-why so much?"

"I'm sorry?" Takeru said, taking a final drink from the glass before setting it down on a small tray to the left of the chair.

"For me, with...with Hido, I mean...that was a lot of money. Right?" Hikari asked timidly, wondering if she was just giving away her complete lack of knowledge concerning money.

"Oh." Takeru gave a wry little smile. "Yeah, it was...significant. Maybe stupid on my part." He propped his left foot up on his right knee. "Hundred grand for you, hundred grand for your brother. If my father knew he'd beat the heck outta me. Don't tell him." He sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "And I can't even say I'd blame him."

"I-I don't know anything about money," Hikari said quickly. "I do know that I sold for...ten thousand when the Sasaki's bought me. Taichi was fifteen thousand."

"Sounds about right," Takeru mused. "I mean, I don't know what you and your brother looked like back when that happened, but that sounds reasonable. You've obviously deprecated since then, but I'd still guess you could get auctioned off for...eight thousand. And your brother...well, you might get a grand from soneone willing to sell organs and body parts. Probably closer to seven hundred."

Hikari stood there, nervously fidgeting.

"I knew I needed to make a big offer to get Hido to bite," Takeru explained. "He wouldn't go for it unless he was getting at least fifty percent of extra value. And then when he got mad, I had to go crazy."

"But why am I worth one hundred thousand dollars to you, sir?" Hikari asked.

"You're not," Takeru said simply. "In deals like this, things aren't that simple. I evaluated your worth at a hundred thousand, but I got you for nothing." He shrugged. "All I spent was a couple hours of time, really. Maybe you're worth nothing to me."

Hikari gave a small grimace, looking down at the floor.

"I mean, you're not, but you could be."

Hikari looked back up at him, entirely confused, particularly when he gave her a bemused smile.

"I'm sorry, that was mean," Takeru said, turning again to look out the window. "But you're not worth one hundred thousand dollars either. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Couldn't tell you where. I've been playing poker with Hido for ten years, I know how he plays, I know his tells, I know how to outplay him, and I know I'm better than him. Wasn't that worried about losing to him."

Hikari gave a little head nod of acknowledgement. "That makes sense, sir. I think that's all I have."

Takeru pointed at the chair across from his. "Why don't you have a seat over there? In a few minutes we'll fly over the casino, you can check it out from the air."

OOO

~Takeru~

Takeru took the steps down from the exit of the jet, quickly stepping onto the tarmac below. Waiting for him below were two individuals and a small four-wheeled vehicle. There was one other jet, identical to his own, on another platform to the east. The massive casino was a little ways away to the north, a short car trip away.

"Evening," he said casually. "Roberts, we've got a pretty severe case." He pointed with his thumb towards the door to the plane. "He's in the bedroom, been through a lot."

The good doctor was about the same age as Takeru's father, out of his traditional white work coat, wearing instead a black leather jacket. His most distinctive feature was his nearly trimmed and small beard. One of the first hires Hiroaki had made when opening The Mecca, as a capable medical staff was required when bringing in such a significant fleet of slave labor.

"This is a slave, right?" Roberts asked. "What should I do if I find him to be a sunk cost?"

"This is a little different," Takeru said. "No sunk cost line, I want him in condition to work again. Whatever it takes. If Hiroaki asks, it's my problem."

"Got it," he said. "I'll let you know what I think tomorrow afternoon."

Roberts quickly stepped around Takeru, taking the steps up to the entrance of the plane. Hikari poked her head out of the doorway, quickly getting out of the way so the doctor could get in.

"Tanaka." Takeru went up to the other awaiting person. A woman in a lilac trenchcoat, hair done in a bun and slick, slim glasses on her face. "I've got a new worker up there." He again pointed up towards the jet entrance. "She's gonna need some work done though, she's been working outside for six months. Clean her up."

"Not a problem," Tanaka replied, looking up as Hikari's face again poked out. "Come on down!" she said, waving towards Hikari. Cautiously, Hikari began to make her way down the stairs. "What's the plan for her?"

"Depends on how she looks when you're done," Takeru said, lowering his voice as Hikari got closer. "I was thinking she might work well with The Angels, so do everything you can."

"Her?" Tanaka said, squinting over Takeru's shoulder. "That seems like a reach."

"Absolutely," Takeru conceded. "I could be way off. If I don't like what I see when you're done, she might work in the kitchens or waiting tables." He leaned in closer to her. "I just kind of feel like she might bring something a little different to The Angels, might play well."

"I'll do my very best," Tanaka said. "Give me about three days with her. Anything else?"

"She's had nothing to eat but protein blocks for the last six months, get her some real food. It'll make her sick after so long without it, but it's either gonna happen now or happen later. Get it over with now so her stomach can adjust before she starts working." He stepped around Tanaka. "And she's a little shy, try to be nice." He went over to the car, jumping into the passenger side.

OOO

The silver elevator doors slid open, a low little beep signalling it's arrival at the proper floor. Takeru stepped out into the large living room, his bag still slung over his shoulder.

"Evening, sweetie." Natsuko came around the corner to the right, emerging from the kitchen.

"Ahhh, I'm blinded by white!" Takeru said, throwing his hands up over his face. His mother was clad in only a white bathrobe, and her face was covered in a thick white cream.

"That was funny the first time, it's really not funny the eighty-seventh time," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, gimme a break, I've done it at LEAST a hundred times," he said. "Give me some credit."

"So, did you win?" she asked, going over towards the large red velvet couch, in an area in front of the elevator doors.

"Course I won, I was playing Hido," Takeru said dryly.

So obsessed was Hiroaki with running his casino to perfection, he and his family resided on the top floor of the structure. Above all the game rooms, the restaurants, and the hotel and resort, on the twenty-first floor, the Ishida's ruled The Mecca from on high. It was no less carefully maintained than every other floor, with beautiful and expensive pieces of art on every wall and on every surface. The living room was large, several couches and a wall made up of over a dozen giant television screens opposite the elevator doors. Two giant bookshelves were packed to capacity on the east wall. To the right was the kitchen, a pristine place of tile and stainless steel, and the hallway to the left led to the bedrooms, a game room, and a few other luxury chambers. It ensured that Hiroaki was never more than five minutes away from personally being present at any part of his casino, while also allowing him and his family to reside in a place completely isolated from the casino.

"Your father's down on the third floor, some sort of food spillage near the slots and nobody was dealing with it," Natsuko said, tucking a bit of her blonde hair behind her ear. "I just had a feeling that new slot manager wasn't going to work out."

"Yeah, it's called nepotism. I know all about it first hand," Takeru said.

"Don't even say that," his mother chided, sitting down on the couch and putting her feet up on the opposite side. "You're great around here. If it wasn't for you helping with running the casino, I'm convinced your father would have had a heart attack by now. Surprised he hasn't anyway, really."

"That just makes me feel worse, I'm gonna mostly disappear for two months in like three weeks, what if I come back and he's in a hospital bed?" Takeru began slowly walking towards the hallway to his left.

"Oh, he'll be fine," she said, laying back, head on one of the armrests of the couch. "He knows you're chasing your dream. But believe me, these last two years, you've shown that you're the perfect person to inheirit this place one day. You're about the only person your father trusts!"

"Thank you!" Takeru said, disappearing down the hall. "Good night!"

He walked down a thin green carpet, past a few pairs of doors, until he got to one marked by a large yellow diamond. He twisted the golden doorknob and pushed into his bedroom, a large chamber decorated by posters with charts, paragraphs of text, and a few pictures. The four-poster bed was in the far left corner, with four large screens on the wall opposite it.

Immediately, he crossed the room, going past the bed, over to spot on the wall devoid of any posters, right between a chart depicting an estimated point value for every starting hand in Holdem and a glamour shot of Vincent Wilson sitting at a poker table during the 2013 Main Event. He gave the right end of the blank section of wall a couple of pounds with his fist, and a rectangular portion slowly retracted inward.

The piece of wall slid downward after pulling in, revealing a titanium panel with a numerical keypad and a fingerprint scanner along the surface. He pressed his right hand's thumb into the scanner while his left hand rapidly hit the buttons on the keypad. It took about twelve seconds to enter the full code, signified by a small beep. He pulled his hands away, letting the panel pop out slightly.

Takeru grabbed it, pulling it outwards, revealing a long steel tray with stacks of money. The tray pulled out about three feet before stopping, only the front foot or so actually holding money. Takeru shrugged the bag off his shoulder, unzipping it to reveal the eight packs, and began placing them back into the tray.

"Alright, that's nine hundred..." Takeru said under his breath, talking to himself as his hands ran over the piles of money. "Nine hundred seventy..." he picked up one of the stacks, squeezing his together between his fingers, looking at the thickness. "Two. Nine hundred seventy-two."

He stood over his impressive holding of money, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Thirty-three thousand...sixty-seven thousand, one hundred nine and a half, one hundred thirty-nine and a half, two hundred thirty six," he muttered. "Good shape, good shape. Three-quarters of a million behind...just live at one hundred two hundred for three weeks, keep it safe."

He slid the tray back into the wall, a whirring click signifying the locking mechanism kicking in. Quickly following that was the wall panel sliding back up, then forward, becoming flush with the rest of the wall, only the tiniest of gaps in the paint indicating there was anything of note about that particular wall section.

Takeru shrugged off his suit jacket, going over to the closet right by the wall of screens and opening the sliding doors. "Call the Angel Suite," he said, voice booming as he clearly enunciated. He hung his jacket up on a hangar, a series of little blips popping off from an array of speakers built into the walls.

"Good evening, sir," a female voice sounded from all directions around Takeru.

"Evening." He began to unbutton his waistcoat. "How's...Ashley booked tonight?"

"Let me check."

Takeru hung his waistcoat up, leaving him in just his white undershirt. He kicked his shoes off as well, using the toe of the opposite foot to get the heel of each shoe off.

"She's open from ten to eleven. Booked through the rest of the night."

"Alright." Takeru stepped out of the closet, looking up at the wall clock to the left of the closet entrance. "Send her up at ten, I'll get her back in plenty of time. Anything I should know about?"

"Nothing bad, sir. We had a whale in this afternoon, said he wants to book Ren once a week every week for the next six months."

"Music to my ears," Takeru replied. "Thank you, that's all."

He made his way over to the bed, flipping onto it, placing his head on the pillow at the top.

"2009 Main Event, Barry Lewis. Main screen," he announced. A few moments later, the largest of the screens on the wall opposite him sprang to life, depicting footage of a poker table in the middle of a hand.

"Barry Lewis looks like he's going to play this hand." A bald man with a beard was shown looking at his two cards. "He's got jack ten of clubs, under the gun plus one."

"One of the best drawing hands in poker, but Barry is in early position here, so it's tough. You could just limp in, but then it's easy for someone down the line to raise, maybe even as a squeeze play, and then it's really hard to know where you're at, and you'll be out of position, so unless you flop two pair or better it's tough. So some people raise to indicate strength, get lesser hands to fold and discourage squeezes with bad hands. But then if you get three-bet, you kind of have to fold."

The man threw out three white chips. "Standard raise, bumping it to three hundred. Coleman folds, Suzuki folds..." 


	5. On A Draw

Chapter 5: On A Draw

It was a rare thing for Hikari to feel like she was the center of attention.

But, with multiple people caring for her over the course of several days, there was no other way to feel. Ever since being passed off to Tanaka, her life had become a blur of being passed around from room to room and person to person. It seemed like each step was purging the remnants of the last six months, washing away her time at the Sasaki's.

Her raggy clothes had been disposed of and she had been given simple undergarments to wear, something that contributed to her embarrassment as she was put through the various treatments. First had been her skin, as she was covered practically from head to toe in a milky cream and placed inside of a tube. Various contraptions and devices whirred all around her, the temperature changing from time to time inside. It itched like crazy, but she had been told to not move, so she simply closed her eyes and tried to think of her brother.

There was her hair as well, covered with a clear gel and thoroughly massaged, then washed out with water. She had been scrubbed down and rinsed off. A man had even come to examine inside of her mouth and use some small brushes to clean it out, something she had never done before and had quite a hard time with.

The worst had to be when they had scrubbed her feet of calluses. Though she was grateful that the uncomfortable pieces of hardened skin were gone, the process had been rather torturous. Rough pads had been scraped across her feet, making her cackle with laughter and fight with all her strength to pull her feet away, until eventually she had to be held down. With no choice but to submit to their process, she could only sit there and laugh herself to tears.

All of this was done a few times over a few days. By the end, she had to admit, it was probably all worth it. Even during the house parties with the Ripley family, she had never looked or felt quite this good.

Her skin was smooth to the point where she couldn't stop running her hands over it. She spent time looking in mirrors, noting how evenly colored her body was, no bruises or burns. Not even discolored spots. Her hair was fuller now, made healthy again by some process she couldn't hope to understand. She felt energetic in a way she hadn't known for some time, like she actually wanted to do things now. It was like an entirely new person had emerged from the three day process, someone she could hardly recognize.

She was standing right at the mouth of a massive room, brightly colored and practically glowing with bright lights. Rows and rows of square-shaped machines lined the area closest to her, people standing in front of them and interacting with them. From the slightly elevated spot at the entrance she could peer over these rows to see large green tables surrounded by people on the far side. She couldn't make any details out, but it was fair to assume they were all playing various games.

The room was packed with people, waves of them moving up and down the rows, adding to the utter chaos that the room presented. Emotions seemed to be running high as well, as every glance revealed someone reacting strongly to what she could only assume was a good or bad result.

Takeru stood at her side, looking out on the room as well. He turned to look at her.

"This is a casino," Takeru said. "THE casino. Paradise on Earth."

Hikari could feel a rush of adrenaline from just being near all this action. It was actually a little overwhelming. All the lights were hurting her eyes, and she felt a flash of heat from her body.

"It's...it's different," she said, looking around.

"Little much for you?" Takeru reached back and gave her a light clap on the shoulder. "Well, you'll be working here, so you gotta get used to it. Come on, gotta run before you can walk sometimes."

He gestured forwards with his right arm as he began walking forward. Hikari, against her base instincts, followed. The environment became all the more intoxicating and suffocating as she actually entered the fray. She almost felt faint, but she forced herself to continue forward.

"People from all around come to spend time here," Takeru said loudly, going through the first row of slots, leading the way for Hikari, pushing through a throng of people. "From hundreds of miles around, they book rooms in our five-star resort, they eat the best food in the world, and they gamble their savings on hundreds of different games."

"It's, uh...it's quite an...atmosphere," Hikari said, voice raised to get past the general buzz of the crowd around her. "What are these?" She pointed at the machines lined up on either side of her. There were small screens on each one depicting numbers and symbols. People were slipping coins into small slots along the front, and then hitting a large button just below the screen.

"Slot machines," Takeru said, stopping in the aisle and turning around to look at her. "You put money into it and you push the button. Then the symbols randomly spin around and stop, and if you make a pattern of symbols you win money."

She watched for a moment, spinning her head around to see the array of symbols on the screen spin around madly before stopping, notations popping up on the screen at the end of each spin.

"So...so how do you do it?" Hikari asked, Takeru again pacing up the aisle, Hikari quick to follow. "What's the trick?"

"No trick. One hundred percent luck, completely random," Takeru answered.

"So you just...hit the button and the machine decides if you win money or not?" Hikari asked, forehead wrinkling in confusion. "How do you make money with something like that?"

"Oh, WE definitely make money." Takeru got to the end of the aisle, and simply took two sharp rights to go into the next one, continuing to expose Hikari to the general chaos of the game rooms. She suspected this was by design. "The slot machine odds are bad for the players. You're more likely to lose money than win money. The cheaper the spin, the worse the value. Even the big spins are stacked against the players."

"Then why does anyone play them?" Hikari asked, continuing to feel weaker the longer she spent out in this madness, but pushing on to follow.

Takeru laughed. "I like that question, that's a good question. Because they think it's fun, because they're bored, because they don't care about losing some money if they kill some time. Or maybe they think today is their lucky day. Maybe they've found some...magical new way to game the odds and beat the system." He looked around at the dozens of individuals sitting in front of the machines. "At the end of the day, these machines have profit margins so big, we couldn't keep this place going without them."

"I...I'm not sure I get it," Hikari said, stopping at his side. "N-not that it doesn't work, obviously, I can see it works...very well, sir."

Takeru gave her a grin. "Hey, I'm right there with you, I find the things boring as hell myself. But I like the money they bring in." He pointed at the row of machines one aisle over. "Over there, nickel-slots. Costs five cents a spin. Twenty spins for a dollar. Not so bad, right?" He turned around and began walking again, Hikari hot on his heels. "Even if you never get a penny out of the machine, you could sit there all day and not lose more than a couple hundred dollars, so the average player won't feel it. And hey, there's a fifteen thousand dollar jackpot in there somewhere, you press the button enough times and maybe it'll pop out." He came out into the main aisle in the middle of the room, now walking down it towards the far half of the room, Hikari grateful to be in a slightly less crowded area. "Of course, on average the machines only give back twenty percent value. So over the long run, each five cent spin returns one cent back to the player. So we get four cents. Average player can spin five times a minute, that's twenty cents a minute to us. Twelve dollars an hour, two hundred and eighty-eight dollars a day. Four hundred nickel slots in the casino, on weekdays there's an average of about a hundred of them in use at any given time, that's just shy of twenty-nine thousand dollars to us per weekday. On weekends, goes up to an average of two hundred in use, fifty-eight thousand a day. Take maintenance and care into account, subtract a couple other expenses, and that's two hundred thousand dollars to the casino per week on average, just from nickel slots."

"Wow," Hikari said, relieved as the two came out in the relatively open area just past the slots. Takeru had turned around and was standing on his tiptoes, looking back at the slot machines, apparently looking for something. "T-that's...that's quite something." She was still fuzzy on the concept of money, but it certainly sounded impressive. "You've got all that memorized?"

"I've been around this place so much in my life, I've got nearly everything memorized." Takeru's face suddenly wrinkled. "Okay, one second. Burt!"

Hikari looked over her shoulder to see a man in a black suit jacket with a red undershirt and black tie approach. He gave a large smile, looking over Hikari right to Takeru.

"Why good evening, Takeru!" he said, a bit of a twanging drawl in his voice. "Real nice evening so far."

"Yeah, Burt, what's up with the Deathroller-themed slots, what's going on?" Takeru asked, speaking rapidly. Hikari ducked to the side, getting the sense that this was a business matter she didn't want to get in the middle of.

"W-what's going on, they're doing great, they're the best ones right now "

"Yeah, I saw the charts, they're up thirty-three percent, you know why, right?" Takeru said, putting his hands on his hips. "The new movie is coming out next week."

"Yeah, the movie," Burt said, chuckling a bit to himself. "You know, I'm gonna see that, might go opening week "

"Burt!" Takeru snapped. "Why aren't the Deathroller-themed slots up at the front where everyone can see them when they come in? They're the most popular ones right now, they should be where everyone can see them when they come in!"

"O-oh...well, Takeru, they're already up over thirty percent as it is," Burt replied, motioning with his hand over his shoulder. "I mean "

"People can't even see them when they come in, they gotta walk through a maze to get to them, they need to be in the front!" Takeru said, exasperated. "Come on, think about it, they're up thirty percent now, you move them up to the front, they might be up seventy percent!"

"But they were doing so well, I just didn't think I should mess with a good thing," Burt explained, holding his hands out defensively.

"Yeah, you do mess with a good thing, when you can make a better thing!" He pointed over towards the machines. "Call in a crew and have them move the machines around, and get your head in the game, Burt! You're the slot manager, I shouldn't have to tell you these things, this is supposed to be the stuff you figure out!"

Burt nodded, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. "Y...you're right, I'm sorry, you're...you're totally right, I don't know what I was thinking!"

"Yeah, me either," Takeru said, nevertheless cracking a small smile. "Look, don't apologize, just do it. Call down a crew and move the machines, rush hour starts in an hour and a half, have it done by then."

"Y-yeah, no problem, right away!" Burt gave Takeru a salute. "I'll do that right away!"

"Good!" Takeru turned back around, tugging on the lapels of his jacket as he did. Hikari quickly took up stride right behind him again. "Unreal, I think nobody would notice a difference if we let a rooster manage the slots in here."

"W-what am I going to do in here, sir?" Hikari asked, looking around the massive room. She did see men and women wearing gold-colored blazers or gold-colored shirts buzzing around from table to table, interacting with the players.

"You might not be working in here specifically, you'll definitely spend time in here though," Takeru explained. "We'll talk more about that in a bit. But I wanted you to have a look around here, get an idea of the sort of environment you're going to be in. Long ways away from anything you've seen before, and you'll have to adjust fast."

"Yes sir, anything you want," Hikari said, quickly nodding.

"Alright, I think that's enough sweating out of you," Takeru said, smirking. Hikari unconsciously reached up to her forehead, realizing quite suddenly that the chaotic atmosphere had caused her to profusely perspire. "I'll get you out of here."

OOO

Even though the entire room was colored a rather aggressive red, Hikari found it a peaceful relief to be somewhere far less populated. Shelves of books covered the left wall, with another shelf filled with artwork opposite on the right. There were all sorts of charts on the wall by the door as well. A large oak desk was up near the back wall, all sorts of papers and screens set up on the surface, a massive pane of glass behind the chair servicing as a window out to one of the game rooms, giving a dream view. She was standing in front of the desk, Takeru having taken a seat behind it.

"Father's office," Takeru explained, holding his hands out to the side. "I do some work from here as well, try to make it a bit easier on him."

"It's very nice," Hikari said, coming up a bit closer to the desk and having a look over it's contents.

"Don't tell him I was sitting in his chair though," Takeru said. "In any case, there are a couple of reasons why I'm explaining some of the particulars of this business to you. I think it's good for you to understand that we make a lot of money here. I won't break down every piece of it, no point, but we're talking millions of dollars a day, net." He pointed down towards the ground. "Somewhere about thirty feet underground, beneath this casino, we have what we call a count room. I'm not even allowed in the count room. It's where all this money ends up. I've been told that on weekends, you could practically build a house out of stacks of money." He cleared his throat. "The Sasaki's made a lot of money too, one of the biggest food distributors in the world. But their profit margins were thin, so many things going wrong that cut into their take, so many expenses. That's why they worked their field hands so hard and gave them so little. Had to maximize. We don't have to do that here, our margins are thick. We can treat the labor better. You won't find many better work opportunities. So it's in your best interest to stay working here as long as you can."

Hikari nodded energetically, feeling so much better getting away from the crowd. "Yes sir, I can already tell how lucky I am."

"Now then." Takeru leaned back in the chair, spinning it around to look out of the large window. "I'm going to propose something a little unconventional. Maybe even a little uncomfortable. Best thing you can do is tell me how you really feel about it. Do you know what a prostitute is?"

Hikari thought for a moment before shaking her head.

Takeru nodded. "Not exactly something you'd see very much in your line of work. Do you know what sex is?"

Hikari blanched, taken slightly aback, but she was quick to nod. "I do know that."

"How would you define it?" Takeru asked.

"W-well...I have no personal experience with it, I couldn't tell you a lot about it, but...it's a thing that people do when they love each other, and it can result in the woman becoming pregnant."

"That's all true," Takeru affirmed. "One thing I'd add is that the process of having it feels...good. It's enjoyable. So that's kind of the key thing here, because...basically, a prostitute is a person who has sex with people that they don't love. They do it for the physical pleasure element only, they do it with people they don't even know and might never see again. And these people, they pay the prostitute for it."

"O-okay. S-so, a...prostitute gets to have...sex with people, and these people also pay the prostitute. So the prostitute gets to have sex, which feels good, and get money." Hikari paused for a moment, running her words through her head. "I mean...it sounds...like a great deal."

Takeru started laughing, leaning back in the chair. "When you put it like that, yeah. Maybe I'm in the wrong profession." He sighed. "Well, I suppose it's just that...normally, sex implies a deep connection between the two individuals. So a prostitute says, we can have sex without any connection between us, I'll just do it with you, but you have to pay me for that. So, prostitution is one of the oldest businesses in the world. And when we opened The Mecca, at first, the sidewalks outside were just crawling with them. Women, occasionally a couple men, knowing that anyone entering or exiting the casino must have some money on them, just combing the streets, looking for customers. It was a total disaster, gave the place a bad name, because it just goes wrong so often. The customers end up being up to no good, the prostitute ends up being up to no good, so many exchanges result in robberies or kidnappings or...even death. The prostitute could have...a disease, pass it along. The customer could have a disease. Just really not good."

Takeru suddenly reached up to his collar, again gripping the corner of it, tilting his head down towards it.

"Tell him I'll be there by six," Takeru said. Hikari straightened up again, attention drawn by his sudden change in conversation focus.

"Sorry." Takeru released his collar. "Anyway, a couple years ago, we had the idea of making it a little more corporate. Bring the business inside the actual casino. My father let me put it together. I went around, found some girls who I thought had the proper assets, and they work as prostitutes inside the facility. So the prostitutes, since they work for the casino, can be trusted to not have ulterior motives. The process is under surveillance, so the customers can't get out of line. We have medical equipment, makes sure everyone is clean. You can't get away with refusing to pay or anything like that. You'd have to be insane to take your chances outside when you can get action inside. Not long after we started, all the ones outside realized things had dried for them and went away, things have been great ever since. We've got about two dozen girls now. We call them The Angels. I think you'd fit in very well with them. What do you think?"

Hikari stood there, on the opposite side of the desk, blinking over at Takeru. They simply waited in silence for several seconds.

"No, I'm actually asking," Takeru said. "Would you be willing to do that?"

"...oh, well...I don't have a choice, right?" Hikari said awkwardly, looking down towards the floor. "If you're telling me this is what I'm going to do, then...well, I'm doing it."

"Let's say you do, just for the sake of argument. You do have at least...some say here, how do you feel?" Takeru said, putting his hands up behind his head.

Hikari gave a small grimace. "T-to tell the truth, I've...never done it before."

"It's actually not all that hard. The girls can teach you, it's mostly a very...natural thing, should come to you no problem. Here's the thing, though, this isn't something you can just do by going through the motions. It's not like...cleaning a room, where you can just force yourself to do it, or be forced to do it. You have to be in, mentally. If you don't want to do it, I wouldn't try to force you, it'll never work like that. All of the girls we have in the group right now enjoy their work. They like it, they want to do it, that's very important. So, what do you think?"

Hikari reached up to scratch the side of her face. "Uh...well, sir, I suppose it sounds a lot better than picking crops and chopping wood."

"Oh, trust me, it is. It's really as...good as it gets for someone like you. If it's not that, you could just be a waitress out on the casino floor or in the restaurant, but you're on your feet all day, you're active all day, it's just not as good." He ran his tongue over his upper lip. "What I'm suggesting for you is, really, a dream. You'll spend most of your time walking around the casino, being visible so clients can approach you, and then they book timeslots with you."

"W-well. Alright then, I'll...I'll do that." Hikari had to admit, this was so far away from her comfort zone, she was almost tempted to decline just out of a fear of the unknown. There were at the very least things she knew how to do in the world, and as dull as they might have been, as least she knew she was good at them.

But, after such a long life of nothing but the mundane, there was a certain...allure to such an out-of-bounds job description.

"Alright." Takeru stood up. "I'll pass you off to The Angels, they'll set you up with what you need. I've told you everything you need to know. All you can do now is put everything you have into your work here."

OOO

~Takeru~

It always amused him, how the Ichijouji's made their living on the cutting edge of technology, but then turned around and took up residence in such an old-fashioned mansion. The Ichijouji manor would have fit right in about two hundred years prior, with it's marble surfaces and massive white pillars, plus the almost-comically high ceilings that wasted so much potential space. It may have been an intimidating palace of a house, but it was inefficient and out of date.

Now that he thought about it, perhaps it wasn't smart to have The Mecca's computer system running entirely on their hardware and software.

Guided by a maid through the blindingly white halls of the manor, Takeru amused himself with such thoughts. In truth, he had an appreciation for the place. It was like stepping through a time machine, back into an era long before he was born. He might not enjoy living here, but it wasn't a bad place to visit.

"You know, you don't really need to guide me, I've been here plenty of times, I know where everything is," Takeru said wryly, as the two approached a tall white door built into the wall with a golden knob.

"Just doing my job, sir," she replied, reaching forward to open the door.

"Well, can't argue with that," he conceded. "You're doing very well."

Ken's game room was a good deal smaller than Hido's, as his game tastes were a little more focused and specific. Other than the poker table, which was surrounded by all of Takeru's closest friends, he had a billiards table and a dartboard on the far wall. Ken preferred to keep his attention on games where skill factored in, ignoring those that were based purely in luck. Regardless, it was still quite a nice room, three chandeliers hanging from high above and a fine patterned carpet across the floor.

"I actually thought you might not show," Ken called out from the seat opposite Juliet, turning around to look at Takeru. "After the last game, I figured you might just stop coming, get out while you're peaking."

"You kidding me?" Takeru said, quickly crossing the distance between him and the table and sweeping himself into a chair on the right side of the table. "I'd never pass up an opportunity to play poker in the world's douchiest house."

"Man, you live in a CASINO," Ken retorted. "A literal CASINO. It doesn't get any douchier than that, don't even try to compare, we're all looking up at you."

"I dunno. Every time I come in here, I keep looking around for someone wearing a crown so I can bow to them," Takeru said, looking over at Juliet. "Deal me in." He reached into his inside jacket pocket, pulling out a stack of cash, tossing it out onto the table in front of her. She took it, placing it at her feet underneath the table.

"Nobody even think about feeling sorry for him tonight, no matter what happens," Hido said from the corner seat to Juliet's right, pointing a finger over to Takeru. "Whatever happens, he deserves it. Aces cracked, house over house, runner-runner quads, no matter how bad it is, he has it coming."

"I wasn't planning on feeling sorry for him," Sammy said, putting a pair of slim, polarized sunglasses on his face.

"That game we had a few days ago was nothing," Hido grumbled. "We played heads-up the next day and he rivered a royal on the last hand."

"You guys played heads-up?" Daryl asked, looking back and forth between the two. "What, for practice?"

"Well, sure, that's part of it," Takeru said. "We played for that...that slave girl."

"What, the girl serving drinks at Hido's?" Daisy said. "You wanted her?"

"Yeah, I did," Takeru replied, watching as Juliet began dealing the cards out to the table full of players. "She filled a need for the casino."

"She disappointed you yet?" Hido asked harshly, looking down at his two cards. He grabbed two white chips from his stack and tossed them in towards the middle of the table.

"Couldn't say," Takeru said airily. "We've spent the last few days undoing all the damage you did to her, she hasn't started yet." He looked down at the nine of clubs and the five of spades. He tossed his cards back over to Juliet.

Hido scoffed. "I don't get you, man."

"A royal, though, wow," Miyako said, seated to the right of Ken. "You are due to run a bit bad after something like that."

"Yeah, I only turned aces full," Hido hissed. "One card to hit one out, of course he hits it!"

"Did you apologize to Juliet yet?" Takeru asked, watching as Yuma threw a white chip into the middle and Akira tapped the table.

"Actually, yes," Hido admitted, throwing the brown-haired dealer a furtive glance. "I mean...that was out of line, I apologized."

"Good. You know, speaking of practice, we should play some Omaha tonight at some point."

Juliet burned the top card from the deck, then set out the ace of hearts, the nine of hearts, and the three of clubs.

OOO

"You're actually asking me to play Omaha against the best players in the world when I keep forgetting the rules?" Miyako looked over at Ken, frowning. "Do you want to just see me fail or what?"

"Forgetting the rules?" Ken repeated. "Honey, don't even say that, nobody believes that. You've been playing Omaha since you were twelve, you know the rules as well as anyone."

"Yeah, that's what makes it so sad when I forget them!" Miyako groused.

Takeru bent over slightly, peeling up the corners of the four cards in front of him. Queen of diamonds, queen of spades, ten of diamonds, nine of spades.

"Occasionally, you misplay a hand, which everyone in the world does. It's a complex game. Please, you should at least do a few of them, the first Omaha event has a thousand dollar buyin. You can drop a thousand dollars on an Omaha tournament." Ken looked over to Takeru.

"I open for the pot," Takeru said, grabbing a white chip and a green chip, tossing the two in.

"I guess," Miyako said, shrugging, waiting for Sammy to kick his cards in towards Juliet before following suit. "It's my first World Series, I just feel like I should stick to Holdem this year, maybe re-evaluate next year."

"What's the worst that happens? You gain some experience and lose a little money, you'll more than make up for it in the other events!" Ken grabbed two black chips and tossed them in to the middle. "I re-pot," he said.

Takeru's glance found it's way over towards Ken, his interest piqued.

"Okay, so...sixteen-hundred to call?" Akira asked, looking down at his cards. "Yeah, sure." He tossed in a black chip, green chip, and white chip.

"I call," Takeru said with the action back on him, tossing in a black chip and two white chips.

"Three players. Five thousand five hundred in the pot," Juliet said, taking all the chips into the center, pooling them together, tossing two white chips back over towards Ken.

"Man." Akira took a sip out of his glass of beer. "I just have you guys so trapped right now."

"Yeah, I really feel trapped right now," Ken said dryly, shooting Akira a small smirk.

"I feel trapped and I'm not even in the hand," Daisy said, reaching down to adjust the front of her low-cut dress, making sure it was even.

Juliet set a card to the side, then flipped the next three up in the middle. Ace of clubs, seven of hearts, two of spades.

Takeru stared at the cards for a few seconds, then tapped the table with his fingers a few times. "Check to the raiser," he said.

"Alright, let's say...fifteen hundred," Ken announced, tossing a black chip and green chip in.

"Fifteen hundred," Juliet said flatly, turning over to Akira.

"I'll do the one thousand Omaha, that's it," Miyako said. "Just the one, I'll be out in two hours and you won't even consider asking me to do any more."

"If you cash in the one thousand, you have to do the fifteen hundred," Ken countered.

"Then I'll probably just intentionally try to go out on the first hand in the one thousand," she said sarcastically.

Akira took a stack of green chips, removing the top half of it and tossing them in towards Juliet.

"Raise to five thousand," Juliet said, turning back to Takeru. "Your move, sir."

"Wow," Takeru mumbled, watching the line of green chips from Akira. "I was going to check-raise. Guess I can't now." He grabbed his four face-down cards and tossed them towards Juliet. "I had a beautiful hand too. So much promise when we started."

"They're all beautiful hands until the flop kills them," Yuma said. Takeru leaned back in his chair, turning to grab a small plate with a kebob on it. Grabbing the end of the metal rod, he used his teeth to rip off a piece of veal.

"And what makes you so sure I'll 'make up' for it in the other events anyway?" Miyako watched as Ken considered his chipstack.

"One second," Ken said quietly. "It's such a dry flop, what could you have?" He eventually took three black chips and a green chip. "I call." With the chips being pulled into the middle, he turned to Miyako. "You're gonna make up for it, there are like thirty Holdem events."

"What if I don't cash in any of them?" Miyako said, propping her right elbow on the edge of the table and resting her face in her hand.

Ken started snickering. "Then...then I need to find a new girlfriend I guess," he said sarcastically. "Come on, you're good, you're gonna do great, don't even say that."

"Two players. Ten thousand five hundred in the pot." Juliet burned a card from the top, placing out the jack of clubs.

"Daisy, that goes for you too, we need more women in Omaha events. Complete sausagefest," Sammy commented. "Every eye in the building is gonna be on you."

"Exposure is definitely good for me, I'll probably at least do some of them," Daisy said, shrugging.

"You should do every event then. Even if you lose it's good for your other careers," Takeru said. "I'm doing every event except One Drop, I know Ken is too, you may as well. Total sum of all the buyins is...a little less than a quarter million, you'll totally benefit more than that from all the camera time you'll get."

"But Stud is so boring," Daisy said in a forelorn little whine. "And I'll embarrass myself playing...Razz and Hi-Lo. I might embarrass myself playing Omaha really."

"Alright, I check," Ken said, pointing over to Akira. "Do your worst."

"How much you got behind?" Akira asked, stretching his head up to look at Ken's stack of chips.

"About twenty-one thousand," Ken replied.

"Wow, look at this pot," Yuma said quietly. "Finally a big one, was waiting for this."

Akira hesitated for several seconds, then reached forward to tap the table.

"I would have bet a thousand dollars he was going to fire," Miyako said. "What's going on here?"

"Oh, and Daisy." Takeru turned to look at the buxom blonde. "You're not capable of embarrassing yourself doing anything."

Daisy gave him a sly smile. "I'm not so sure about that."

"You make everything you do look good," Takeru continued.

Juliet burned a card and threw down the the ace of diamonds.

"Well, all the same, not my best games," Daisy said. "I'll save the money."

"Go ahead," Ken said, pointing over at Akira.

"I'm gonna do every event except One Drop too," Sammy added, putting the unlit cigarette back between his lips. "My dad wants me to, and he's going to be doing all of them too, so I may as well."

"Okay, hold on everyone, Akira's got a big decision," Yuma said, raising his voice just a bit. Immediately, the entire table went silent, conversations dying out, looking over at the man with slightly dark skin.

His eyes flittered about, looking at the cards in the center of the table, then over to Ken, then at the chipstack in front of him. Finally, with a puff of breath from his nostrils, he reached forward and grabbed five black chips, along with four green chips. He pushed the small tower in the middle.

"Seven thousand," Juliet announced, taking the tower into the pot in the middle of the table.

Immediately, the focus of the table's occupants went over to Ken, who had his arms folded over each other on the edge of the table in front of him. The silence continued on, all the other players respecting Ken's need to consider his options with some quiet.

Ken looked down at his chips, slowly reaching his hands forward to move them around. A half-stack of blacks, twelve greens, five stacks of whites. He committed nothing to the center, instead making sure his count was correct.

"All-in," Ken said, so quiet it could only be heard because it was so silent right now. Takeru jolted a bit, and Daryl's head snapped up to look at the blue-haired young man.

But nobody would say anything. Akira was a player who preferred to think out things without commentary, reasoning it all out inside his head.

Takeru cleaned off his kebab and stood up, slowly walking away from the table, using the wait to stretch his legs a bit. He paced away. In short order, Daisy, Miyako, and Sammy also stood up from their seats, slowly making their way to the other side of the room, towards Takeru.

"What do you think?" Miyako said in a hushed tone, whispering as the four young adults got together across the room. "Should I be concerned?"

"It's really tough," Takeru replied, leaning down slightly, keeping his voice down. "Akira definitely has an ace in his hand, that's obvious. Kind of weird he slowed down on the turn, but he has an ace at least."

"I feel like that jack hit someone," Daisy added, covering her mouth with her hand, turning around to look at the table. "They both checked after the jack came up. Feels like maybe someone was trying to trap on the river with two pair."

"If Akira has ace-jack, he would have snap-called, obviously. Maybe ace-seven, but he would have called by now too I think. I think he just has trips." Takeru reached back behind his head to scratch at the top of his neck. "Probably playing ace-king."

"Ken has a full house for sure," Sammy said, pursing his lips and nodding. "Has to be. I think he has ace-jack."

"I don't know, he checked the turn and the river. If he had ace-jack, wouldn't he value bet the river?" Daisy pointed out. "Could you really check the nuts and risk getting no value?"

"He potted pre-flop, maybe he has two jacks in his hand," Sammy said. "Would you do this with two jacks? It's such a risk, so many hands with an ace have you beat."

"If he has jacks, I feel like he would have just called," Takeru mused. "Maybe Ken has two kings and is turning it into a bluff. Decided there was too much in the pot to just let it go."

"Maybe Akira has jacks," Miyako said. "Bet it for value on the river, now he's worried about aces full."

Akira finally moved, having done nothing but blink for a couple minutes. He reached up to wipe his forehead, sighing. "Why didn't I just check?" he groaned. "Alright, I gotta do it." He reached down towards his chip stacks. "I call."

Ken grabbed his four cards, flipping them over onto the table. Two jacks and two eights.

"Jacks full of aces," Juliet said in her pleasant, flat voice.

"Ohhh, I could have just checked behind," Akira groaned, taking his four cards and tossing them over in front of Juliet, not flipping them over. "He gave me an exit and I didn't take it, what the hell was I thinking?"

Ken jumped to his feet, clapping his hands together. "Ohh!" he expelled. "I can't believe that held up!"

"Whoa," Takeru said, going back up to the table to look at Ken's hand. "I didn't think you'd shove with jacks."

"I thought I was beat when he bet the river like that, I was turning my hand into a bluff," Ken admitted, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead. "I was thinking he had ace-deuce or ace-seven, I was trying to get him off it. I tried to make it look like ace-jack."

"How did nobody have ace-jack?" Hido said, somewhat shocked as Juliet pushed the large pot over to Ken. "You thought you could get him off aces full?"

"If I could play three of my hole cards, I would have had aces full," Akira said, still smarting from the hit to his net worth. "Was that a bad call? I had ace king with two sixes."

Takeru scratched the bridge of his nose. "I dunno, the pot was nearly...forty-thousand dollars, so you're getting two to one. You're beating a bluff, and maybe ace-queen or ace-ten."

"Just tell me it was a bad call," Akira said. "Donkey call."

"Hey, Ken absolutely has it in him to bluff like that," Yuma said, pointing at Ken. "He can make some crazy plays, you could easily have had the best hand. Don't feel bad."

"Alright." Akira stood up. "I'm gonna get another twenty-five thousand."

"Gutsy shove," Daisy said. "Must feel pretty nice, bluffing when you actually have the best hand." She sat back down, pushing her hair back behind her head.

"I never thought he could call unless he had ace-jack or aces." Ken shook his head, then reached forward and began stacking his chips.

"Hey, Hido, you happy now?" Takeru pointed over at Ken. "He's the one chipping up tonight, not me. I'm down nearly seven thousand so far, running bad, are you happy now?"

"I'm down ten thousand!" Hido exclaimed, pointing at his chips. "So, no, not really."

"Oh yeah, running real bad," Daryl said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "We've played for three hours and you're down less than thirty-five big blinds, that's horrible."

"I wish I could run bad like that," Akira said. "I just lost more than three times that in one hand."

"You've barely played any hands tonight, that's what happens when you fold over and over," Miyako added.

"Well, I've been a little card-dead, so Hido can...get some satisfaction out of that." Takeru watched Juliet distribute out cards, one to each player going around the table, until each player had four.

Takeru looked down at his. Ten of clubs, five of hearts, five of spades, five of diamonds.

"Speaking of card-dead," Takeru said, tossing the four cards over to Juliet. "Pass."

"How much longer do you need to be card-dead before you start getting frustrated and playing garbage?" Sammy asked. "Come on, it's gotta happen, just take a chance with a random hand!"

"I could just throw my money in the toilet instead," Takeru said dryly. "Man, Hido might have been right, maybe I used up all my good cards a few days ago. Just not hitting like I was then."

"I'd like to feel for you, but...you know, I don't," Hido said a bit darkly.

"I got nothing to complain about," Takeru said, reaching back to take a drink from his glass of water. "Just hope the cards come back in a few weeks."

"Pot," Daisy announced, placing six hundred in chips forward on the table. 


	6. Running Good

Chapter 6: Running Good

"I'm not kidding," Hikari said. Seated on the edge of the bed, she had her legs pointed out straight in front of her, looking at the pair of blue flats on her feet. "I have never worn a pair of shoes in my life until this moment."

"What do you think?" Heather asked, standing in front of her with her hands on her hips.

"Honestly, I always thought they looked like the most uncomfortable things in the world," Hikari said, flexing her feet around. "I think I might have been right. Feels absolutely bizarre."

"You'll get used to it," Heather said. "Trust me, it's a good thing. It's very rare for slaves to be given shoes, but Takeru wants us looking a little more professional out in the casino. It'll take awhile to get used to, but it'll help you a lot in the long run, and the gesture from Takeru means a lot."

"Twenty years of being barefoot, I don't know if I'll ever get used to it," Hikari said. "But I suppose it's part of the uniform, I'll bear it."

Hikari almost couldn't believe the optimism that radiated from these girls. Heather had taken a special interest in bringing her up to speed, but she had interacted with several of the others as well, and there was a glow of positivity in all of them. They were all slaves, property without human rights, but this felt so incredibly different from how things had been at either of her two stops, it felt as if things were radically different. These girls were happy, they had casual conversation, they made jokes, they knew things. It was a wonderful change from what she knew before.

"Truth be told, I'm a lot more grateful for actually getting my own room. That's something I never imagined would happen." Hikari looked around the bedroom, an admittedly simple chamber consisting of little more than a blanket-covered bed, couple of cabinets, and a small closet, with a doorway to a half-bathroom in the corner furthest away from the door.

"Just make sure to call in the cleaning crew if a mess gets made. You'll be taking clients back here, it has to look decent," Heather said. "Not that they'll be spending too much time looking at the room."

Heather was perhaps half an inch taller than Hikari, still a bit shorter than average, with straight platinum blonde hair that fell just past her shoulders. Her body seemed to be built solidly, the sculpted quality of her arms indicating more strength than might be assumed based off her size. Her face was a little rounded, not matching the compactness of the rest of her body. She seemed to have something of a leadership role among the girls, taking charge of Hikari's introduction to her job.

"Right. About that, like I said before...I have no experience in...well, sex," Hikari said, stumbling slightly over the words, still a little gunshy.

"Hey, neither did I when I got pulled into this two years ago," Heather replied. "It's not hard, it'll come to you naturally. The clients aren't looking for some super passionate lovemaking, they just need someone who generally knows what she's doing. You'll start out on the inexpensive end, people won't expect the world of you. Just don't be too self-conscious, that's one thing that'll make it so much harder. This is just a job, we're providing a service to people who need it."

"Alright," she said, standing up from the bed. "Just never assume that I know something. I really don't know anything about anything, my entire world for nineteen years was the inside of the old Ripley house."

"Half the girls who have come through here have said similar things at first. Most slaves are kept in the dark about the outside world by design, it's nothing to be ashamed of." Heather went over to her side, clapping her on the back, sweeping towards the door, guiding Hikari towards it as well.

"You know, I don't...I don't even know why...why people like you and me and my brother are slaves and people like...Takeru aren't, I have no idea what makes that the case." Hikari grimaced. "Now that I think about it. When you're little, they put you to work so early, you never have time to question the why."

"Some stuff that happened two hundred years ago or something," Heather said, opening the door and entering the hallway. "Remember, your room is eight twenty-two, that's where you'll tell clients to meet you." She pointed up at the brass numbers on the door.

"O-okay," Hikari said. "What happened two hundred years ago?"

Having been told so much extranenous information in the last several days, Hikari found herself enjoying learning different things. Especially if it wasn't something that she needed to know. It made her feel more empowered.

"Oh...if I tell you you might get upset, it's really kind of frustrating," Heather said, putting her hand up to her forehead as the two girls made their way down the hall. "It was...well, society collapsed, too many people and not enough resources, that sort of thing. Kind of a dark age. The human race was in trouble, and people decided that a significant portion of the population was going to have to...bend over and take it, or else things wouldn't get better. Of course, nobody would volunteer, so there was a big war. Exactly what you want when humanity is already in danger of flickering out, right?"

"So...our side lost?" Hikari asked, strangely fascinated by hearing the story of how her life had been ruined before she had even been born.

"Something like that. Alliances were made, one side got a big leg up with manpower and resources, and the other side just had to lay down. We're in this position now because...our great-great-great-great-great-grandparents were on the losing side, I guess."

"That is frustrating, you're right," Hikari mumbled. The two stopped in front of a door right by the silver elevator doors, marked eight zero one.

"Yeah, but what can you do?" Heather said, pressing her fingers onto the doorknob. A few seconds later, a faint click came from the knob, and she twisted it, opening up to the room. "And hey, it's not gonna be like this forever. Maybe we'll even live to see when it ends."

"Really?" Hikari entered the much larger room, this one without a bed, having been replaced with a desk with some paperwork atop it. There were chairs all around. Otherwise, the room was quite plain, a light blue carpet and white walls. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, that's what the people in charge keep saying at least," Heather said, entering the room. "They say it's just a temporary measure to keep the world together, and that it gives the...scholars of the world a chance to make new innovations that can fix the original problems." She shrugged. "I mean, you've seen that fancy jet that Takeru has, right?"

"I've ridden in it," Hikari answered.

"How long will it be before technology like that gets used to make something that can...you were working on a farm before you came here, right? Imagine something like that being modified to harvest crops, ten times faster than an army of humans could. Eventually, slavery won't even be needed, technology will take care of the resource problem, and all this'll be over."

"Wow. You know an awful lot," Hikari said, looking at Heather with some degree of admiration. "All the slaves I've ever been around, they didn't know anything, it's so nice to...get a picture of the entire world beyond what's just around you."

"Sometimes I wish I didn't know some of the things I did," Heather said. "Not all it's cracked up to be, being informed. Anyway, this is called the Angel Suite, kind of a headquarters. Sometimes a client comes here so they can have a look at all the girls so he can choose the one he wants." With that, she turned to look at Hikari. "So...at this point, all that's really left is the sex part."

Hikari took in a large breath, expelling it out her mouth. "Alright. Teach me what you know."

OOO

"You...you can't be serious."

At long last, Hikari had the clearance to visit her beloved brother. It was almost thrilling to see him being treated so well. The hospital room he was in was somewhat small, but it was remarkably clean, and it may very well have been the first time in Taichi's life where he got to be on a bed. Her brother was sitting up in the bed, most of his body covered by the sheets, looking at her with wide eyes.

"That's what they have me doing," Hikari said, going a little red and averting her eyes a bit from Taichi, nevertheless with a bit of a smirk on her face. She reached up to scratch the back of her head. "I go around the building, people come up to me, they set up a time, I take them to my room, we...do it, the casino gets paid, and they leave."

Taichi's mouth opened a little bit, but then he quickly closed his mouth, swallowing down hard. "W-well, I don't know if I...I like that, that's a very...very...I mean..."

"Hey, I'm working indoors, right?" Hikari shrugged. "It's easy work, I spend most of my time just...being visible, and it's certainly an...interesting line of work."

"L-look, that sort of stuff is very...very sacred and private, i-it's not...I'm not sure that's something you should be doing, I..." Taichi babbled, highly flustered, also going a bit rosy in the cheeks.

"I don't mind it," Hikari insisted. "At first, I was really nervous about it, was really uncomfortable...but the girls, they've been so nice and helpful, and I just look at it as a...like just a job, don't put too much thought or emotion into it, and it's fine. Some people just want to get it done and leave, a few have wanted to spend the night. But that's all it is, it's just something they need that I provide. It actually kind of feels good."

Taichi puffed out a large breath. "I...I don't know about this, Kari."

"Well, you're free to take it up with our master," Hikari replied, a bit of a chuckle in her voice. "Trying to negotiate with our previous one worked out really well for you, after all."

Taichi winced, body shivering. "D-don't even. Don't even joke about that. Seriously, I...don't even." He sighed. "I've never wanted to just die and get it over with more in my life."

Hikari bit her cheek a bit, again looking away from her brother. "T-Tai, I'm...I almost forgot to even say, I'm really sorry. I know you got put there because you were trying to get me out, you might have actually escaped if you had just gone on your own." She sighed deeply. "You went through all that because of me, I...you have no idea how sorry I am."

"Escaping by myself was never an option," Taichi said casually. "What kind of worthless piece of trash would I be if I ran off and left you there?"

"Ah, devotion amongst siblings, warms my heart."

Hikari jumped, spinning around, finding Takeru standing in the doorway, wearing a light blue blazer. Quickly, she bowed her head down as he entered.

"Afternoon, sir," Hikari said, turning back to look at her brother. "Taichi, this is the man who you owe your life and health to, so "

"You've got Hikari having sex with strangers?" Taichi blurted out immediately. Hikari felt a knot suddenly cinch up in her stomach.

Takeru raised an eyebrow at the bedridden slave. "I suppose that's...one way of putting it."

"Uh, well, I'm not so sure about that, I really think there must be something else for her," Taichi continued, even as Hikari stood out of the sightline of Takeru and attempted to signal him with a thumbs-down gesture. "She's "

"Go on," Takeru interrupted, voice a tad icy. "Keep talking. See what happens." He crossed his arms over his chest.

Taichi stopped mid-word, mouth hanging open. The gears in his head cranked away, brain finally catching up to his mouth.

"I'm sorry, sir," he said, bowing his head a bit. "Thank you so much for what you've done for me and my sister, we both owe you our lives. And that I'm not in pain anymore is a true miracle, and I know I owe you that as well. You have my eternal gratitude."

"Better," Takeru said. "Now, I'll get straight to the point, Taichi. I risked a lot of money to bring you here, and I spent a lot of time and resources to heal your injuries. I did all this even after Hido told me that you were a severe escape risk." Takeru came up right by Taichi's head. "Am I going to regret any of that?"

Taichi shook his head rapidly back and forth. "N-no sir, my...my escape attempt days are long over, I can promise you that."

"There'll be a lot of egg on my face if you end up being a problem," Takeru continued, still sounding quite stern. "You'll be well enough to work again in a week, you'll be helping unload delivery trucks. Don't rock the boat, keep your head down, do what you're told, and that'll be good enough. But I'm not going to tolerate any drama from you, so toe the line."

Taichi was very quick to nod. "Yes sir."

"That's what I like to hear." He reached up and gave Taichi a couple pats on the top of his large head of hair. "Your sister is going to be fine, it's good work for her, and she agreed to do it. That's all I have to say about that." With that pronouncement, he turned to Hikari. "Hikari, I had a look at the Angel Suite charts and noticed you're not booked between six and ten tonight."

Hikari shrunk back slightly away from her master. "I-I'm sorry, sir, I've been out in the game rooms, I'm definitely picking up more customers every day but it's been "

"No no no no, I'm not upset or anything," Takeru cut her off, shaking his hands a bit in front of him. "Of course it's slow at first, you just started a couple weeks ago. I mention it, because I'm hosting the poker game tonight. I don't really have anyone to serve food and drinks right now. I know you've done it before, so I figured, since you're open...you could just block off that time and come do it."

Hikari immediately felt the tension in her stomach ease. "O-oh, I, yes, I...will Hido be there?"

"Sure will, that's part of the fun," he gave her a small grin. "Not like he's gonna do anything. Hey, I'll even let you sass him if you want, you have my permission to sass him if he says something."

Hikari pursed her lips. "W-well, I don't know how to...to sass, sir. But I can serve the table tonight."

Takeru grinned. "Don't know how to sass, that's an awful thing. I'll have to teach you." He clapped her on the back. "Game room number three, all the way in the back, there's a small closed-off room. Ask a staff member if you can't find it. We'll be playing back there." He began walking back towards the door. "See you there."

"It was great to meet you, sir," Taichi called to his retreating back. Takeru gave a wave over his shoulder as he crossed the threshold, closing the door behind him.

Hikari immediately turned to Taichi. "You know, he didn't even want you at first," Hikari said. "Didn't even know about you, he only went after you because I begged him to."

"Well, thank you very much, Kari," Taichi said earnestly. "You saved my life as much as "

"My point is, don't get on Takeru's bad side!" Hikari said, leaning in close to her older brother. "Please, we have a really good thing here potentially, better than we ever could have imagined, please don't give him a reason to take it away, just forget about what I'm doing!"

Taichi bit his lower lip a bit. "I can't, that's not how this works, you're my little sister. I made too many promises to mom and dad."

"Well, you'll have to let it go," Hikari said firmly. "I agreed to it, he gave me a choice. This is what I wanted, this is what he wanted, this is between me and him."

He slumped back on the bed, laying out prone now. "Well. Not like I can do anything anyway. Just be careful." He tilted his head to look over at her. "He seems to like you, the way he was talking to you, I've never seen a master to to their slave like that."

"Yes, he's very nice, which is another reason why you shouldn't give him a reason to not be nice," Hikari said.

Taichi gave a small smile, then a small nod. "Well. After what happened with the Sasaki's, I'd have to be really, really stupid to do anything to give my master a reason to not be nice."

Hikari thought she could see Taichi's legs move a little bit underneath the sheets, thighs coming in slightly closer towards his crotch.

OOO

~Takeru~

"Come on, come on!" Takeru waved both her hands energetically towards the table as Hikari poked her head into the small room. With her entrance, the sounds from the outside all flooded in, a cacophony of conversations rendered unintelligible. "Come on in, don't be shy!"

The room, though small, still had it's touches of gaudiness, with a carpet featuring random arrays of geometrically multi-colored shapes, purple and gold wallpaper, and five beaded chandeliers hung from the ceiling. If you wanted to play a game without the noise and chaos offered outside, for a fee you could book out a soundproofed chamber to conduct your business. A good option for high-rollers, particularly those who took their poker seriously. And Takeru certainly took his poker seriously, as did all of his close friends.

Hikari slid into the room and shut the door behind her, immediately silencing the din of noise from the crowd outside.

"Alright, perfect!" Takeru pointed at a chair, set up about five feet away from the center table. His friends had already all already gathered around, ready to play, now observing the girl padding across the carpet. "Just in time, we're just about to get started, this chair is for you!"

"Are...are you serious right now?" Hido grumbled, putting his right elbow on the table and resting his head on his right hand. "This guy, he just thinks he's so funny."

"What? She's here to serve the table while we're playing," Takeru said casually, turning to look at Hido.

"Oh, is that all?" Hido said dryly, glancing up to glare daggers over at his former slavegirl. Takeru turned to see her falter a bit in her walk.

"Yeah. And, you know, to annoy you," Takeru added quickly. "Alright, Hikari!" He jumped up from his seat on the near side of the table and went over to her side. "I know you've seen most of these people before, but Hido is a horrendeous host and didn't introduce you to everyone, so I suppose it's on me."

Again, he enjoyed seeing Hikari's body stiffen, unable to deny the enjoyment he took in pulling the girl from her comfort zone, this time putting a spotlight on her and treating her like a human being in a way she was probably unfamiliar with.

"Alright." He pointed to a seat on the far side of the table, a little to the right of center, at her prior master, deciding to have a bit of fun. "Hido Sasaki, his father owns the sixth-largest food farm in the world. Enjoys trying to use a screwdriver to hammer in nails and trying to squeeze blood out of a stone."

"He just thinks he's a comedian," Hido mumbled, looking away from his friend and the girl, trying not to acknowledge Takeru's little sideshow. "Thinks he's hilarious."

Takeru grinned, moving one seat to the left of Hido. "This is Miyako Inoue, her parents are real estate moguls. When she left academy, she was first-class in four categories, and she still chooses to waste her time playing poker with us instead of...inventing teleporters or something." He gave his lavender-haired female friend a small salute. "God bless her for it."

"Nice to meet you," Miyako said, giving Hikari a quick wave. Hikari smiled and waved back.

"To her left, Ken Ichijouji, his parents run IchTech, computer hardware and software. He left academy first class in six categories. He should be developing a cure for cancer somewhere, instead he's here check-raising sets, should probably be in jail for that." Takeru continued to move around the table, now on his thin, wirey comrade with blue hair.

"Good evening," Ken said, putting his hand out towards Hikari. She just stood there, staring at Ken's hand in confusion. "Not much for touching?" He dropped his hand back to his side, a small smile on his face.

"And you might never guess it, but they made a lovely couple," Takeru joked. "How smart do you think their kids are gonna be? Anyway, this is Samuel Abaid, I've known him since I was five. His father is a professional poker player, three-time World Series bracelet winner. Ninety percent of what I know about poker, I learned from his father."

"The sad thing is, he's still better than me even though we both learned from the same man," Sammy said in his lightly-accented voice, reaching inside his blazer's jacket pocket and pulling out a carton of cigarettes. Sammy's slightly-darkened skin indicated his family's origin in an eastern nation. "And that man is my father, I have no excuse!"

Next on the table was the eye-catching blonde. "Daisy Scott. Mother is Kara Scott, world-famous supermodel." He patted her on the shoulder a couple times. "Daisy's a model herself. Guess she's not a supermodel yet, but she's a model, and she's definitely super."

"Because that line's not getting old," Daisy said, smiling nevertheless as she gestured at Hikari. "Hey there."

"Oh, excuse me," Takeru said. "Model slash actress. I guess that's important." He shrugged. "Alright, Akira Ueno right here, the Ueno's deal in fashion, but we don't make fun of him too much for it."

"That's definitely not true," Akira said, rolling his eyes and shrugging his jacket off of his shoulders onto the back of the chair.

"We do make fun of him for already being bald a lot though, that's fair game." Takeru finally made his way over to the opposite side of the table. "Daryl Porter, his parents were both world champion tennis players, so naturally he became a poker player." He shrugged again.

Daryl moved his hand through his short black hair. "I don't do so well with the sun, the outdoors don't agree with me."

"I've seen him outdoors and can...definitely attest to that being true," Takeru said. "But all that gave him more time to stay inside and study, he ended up first-class in four categories at academy. One door gets closed, another opens." He moved to the next chair, this one occupied by one who was noticably larger than anyone else at the table. "And Yuma Maki, his family has been raking it in on the back of the oil industry for a couple centuries. So he's gotta be careful and not lose too much money here, since oil is getting phased out."

"Yeah, don't remind me," Yuma said, tapping his large fingers on the felt. "Scary thing to think about."

Takeru went to the seat on the side of the table opposite the door. "John here is our dealer tonight." He smiled somewhat sheepishly, tugging on the lapels of his suit jacket. "John, you'll forgive me if...I don't know much about you."

"You already said everything about me, I'm a dealer," John said, giving a small grin as he opened a box of cards and put them out on the table in front of him. "Nothing else interesting about me, really. I have a pet cat, that's it."

"Cats are cool," Takeru said. "Everyone, this is Hikari, she'll be serving the table tonight."

Hikari, who finally seemed to have relaxed in the face of such jovial, casual, joking conversation, gave a small bow. "Wonderful to meet all of you."

Takeru pointed towards the bar and cabinets across the room. "All the things you'll need are over there, so let's get started!" He went around the table and jumped into the seat across from the dealer.

"Hit me with some of that fruit salad, TK kept talking about how he was serving it next time he was hosting, I gotta see what the hype is about," Daisy said, pointing over at the bar.

"T...TK?" Hikari repeated, looking blankly at Daisy for a half-second.

"Oh." Takeru looked up over John's head. "My, uh...my friends call me that sometimes. It's a nickname."

"I'll try the fruit salad too," Ken announced, turning to look at Hikari. "I'll wait a bit to start on the beer tonight."

"Caramel popcorn sounds like a good start," Yuma said.

"Glass of raspberry lemonade," Takeru added.

"Wow, you're finally not just drinking water at the table?" Miyako said. "He's all grown up."

"Can't be grown up, no alcohol in it," Takeru said, pointing at John. "Let's get the cards in the air."

OOO

"I'm checking," Daisy said, pointing over to Hido a few seats to her right.

"Check," Hido quickly announced. "Let's see the turn."

John put down the burn card, then flipped the turn face up onto the middle of the table. The ace of diamonds, joining the five of hearts, three of hearts, and the eight of clubs. "On you, Takeru," John said.

"Check from one blond to the other," Takeru said, looking over at Daisy.

"Check," Daisy followed.

"Alright," Hido said, grabbing four white chips from his stack. "Four hundred."

Takeru, popping a few almonds into his mouth, took one last look down at his two cards, the nine and seven of spades, before tossing them over in front of John.

Daisy planted her left elbow into the felt of the table, making a fist with the hand and resting her left temple against her knuckles. She stared at the four community cards. "Four hundred?" She took a portion of one of her white stacks with her finely-manicured fingers, throwing them in.

"Last card coming," John said. He burned another card, then put down the jack of clubs.

"Yeah, I check," Daisy said, pointing over to Hido.

Hido's nostrils flared a bit, and after a few seconds he moved back to his chipstack, grabbing two green discs. "One thousand." The pair of chips went into the middle.

Even without participation in the hand, Takeru stared Hido down, trying to put the pieces of the hand together. The board was dry, no flush and no straight. Hido hadn't raised before the flop from the button, so a big ace was unlikely. He almost wished he hadn't folded on the turn, as his intuition was telling him that Hido had two hearts, had missed his flush draw, and was trying to bluff it, and he could definitely get him off it with a raise. Him saying anything would have been highly inappropriate, but he hoped that the hand would get to showdown so he could confirm his suspicion.

Daisy grimaced. Her right hand reached over and grabbed two green chips. She looked at them, spinning them around in her hands, then putting them down on the felt in front of her chip pile. "Huh," she muttered to herself.

Finally, she used her index finger to flick the pair of chips past the yellow line on the felt.

"Good call, you got it, King high," Hido said quietly. He flipped up the king of hearts and the two of hearts.

"Knew it," Takeru said.

With that, Daisy took her two cards and put them face up on the table. Seven of diamonds, three of spades.

Takeru's eyes went from her two cards to the board cards, then back. "Woooooooow! Wooooooow!"

Hido, on seeing the hand that Daisy had called with, blanched, pursing his lips as John pushed the chips over Daisy's way.

"Oh my hey, you just got owned real bad there!" Takeru said, standing up from his seat with a grin on his face. He put his hands up over his mouth, almost giddy. His right hand began slapping at the air in front of him. "Wudush! Wudush! Wudush!" He looked back to Daisy. "That was dirty!" He turned back to Hido, pointing at him. "He can't swallow after that one, look at him!"

Eyes bulging a bit, Hido could only manage a half shrug. "Wow."

"Calls off three-quarters of the pot with two threes, oh my God!" Takeru sat back down, clapping. "That was pretty sick."

"How did you make that call?" Sammy asked, staring down at the cards as John pulled them all back in. "You really had him there."

"Yeah, c'mon Hido, give it up, she had you bad there," Miyako agreed.

"Yeah, she...she knew it alright," Hido begrudgingly admitted.

Takeru turned around to look at Hikari, sitting on a chair a bit away from the table. "Get that man a glass of water, all the fluid just drained from his body!"

She jumped to her feet, jogging over towards the bar.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Hido said, eager to have the next hand get underway. John kicked out the cards to the players, beginning the action on Daryl, who promptly folded.

Hikari brought a glass of water to Hido, who roughly snatched it from her hands with a barely-concealed snarl.

"Well don't take it out on her!" Miyako needled. "Daisy's the one who owned you." She tossed a green chip over the yellow line on the table. "Five hundred."

Ken folded, prompting Sammy to finally look down at his two cards. He put them down on top of each other by his chipstack, head hanging down as he pondered his options. "Sure." He tossed in a green chip of his own.

With his turn up, Takeru finally had a look at his hole cards. Ten of diamonds and nine of diamonds. He also placed the two hidden cards by his chipstack, thinking for a moment before tossing a green chip in.

"Man, I should squeeze here, look at all this juice already out there," Daisy said, looking down at her two cards, cupping her hands to make sure nobody else could see them. "Squeeze...squeeze..." she flicked her cards over to John. "Nah, not this one."

Akira reached out just past the yellow line, grabbing the two white chips he had already posted, then threw in a green one. "Run it."

John quickly collected the chips into a tiny pile in front of him, then burned a card before putting down the seven of hearts, eight of diamonds, and the king of diamonds.

"Check," Akira said.

"So, what's he got you doing?" Hido asked loudly, peering past Takeru's head over to Hikari, who had taken her seat again behind the table. "Does he keep you in his bedroom, turning tricks for him?" He gave a shark's grin. "He certainly took a fancy to you that night for some reason, is that it? He wanted a...sex slave?"

Takeru glanced over his shoulder at Hikari, who had turned her head away from the table, wilting a bit from Hido's banter.

"Well, I guess you're in the right ballpark," Takeru admitted. "She's working with The Angels. And she's doing great."

"My offer still stands," Hido said. "Send her back my way, I'll dispose of her. I'll even take her brother too."

During the light conversation, Miyako had cut out a few of her chips from her pile. "Standard continuation bet," she said, tossing three whites and a green in. "You guys know what that means, probably queen high."

"Queen high?" Sammy repeated, peeking back down at his two hole cards. "If you have queen high, I'm drawing dead." He grinned, giving a small laugh. He threw his two cards over to John.

"Hikari is doing great here," Takeru said airily, looking over at the chips Miyako had just bet. "I wouldn't count on your little offer being taken anytime soon."

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced over to Akira, catching that he was looking at him. He reached down and grabbed two black chips. "To two grand."

"Yikes," Akira said, the bridge of his nose wrinkling a bit. He peeled up the corners of his hole cards again, looking at them. "Wow. I was going to check-raise." He grimaced. "You messed up my plan, Takeru."

"I have that effect on people," Takeru said.

"Okay." Akira popped two black chips over towards the middle. "I better just call."

The action spun back around to Miyako, who was biting her lower lip. "Twelve hundred more?" She turned around, taking a quick drink from a glass of wine behind her. "Okay, I need a minute to talk myself into a bad call."

She cut out a small stack of chips from her green stack and began shuffling them about.

"Diamonds...diamonds...ten-nine, five-six...maybe," she muttered. "Okay." She tossed in two green chips and two white chips. "You guys all do good things with your money. I'll give you some more."

After pooling the chips, John burned a card and put out the queen of diamonds. "Up to you, Akira. Eight thousand one hundred in the pot."

"I'm not betting, I check," Akira said.

"Check to the raiser," Miyako quickly said, pointing over at Takeru.

Takeru sat there, blinking down at his chipstack for a few seconds, piecing together the logic of the hand, trying to figure out what he was up against and what would be the best way to extract value. Of all his poker playing skills, one he had spent the last decade cultivating more than any other was hand-reading, and after so much time playing with these particular friends, he had a very good grasp of what they were likely to be holding at any given point.

Akira had a king at worst, and a set at best. He was pretty sure of that. Miyako had a pocket pair, nines, tens, jacks or queens. It made sense.

A value bet would get paid.

"Three thousand," Takeru said, taking six green chips from his stack and tossing them in.

"I like how he puts in six green chips instead of three black ones, so it looks like a more intimidating bet," Daryl said wryly. "It's like, really next level stuff."

"You give me way too much credit," Takeru said, turning to look at Hikari. "Could I get some of the lobster bisque over there please?" She nodded and scurried off.

"Oh boy," Akira bemoaned, leaning back in his chair. "Three thousand into eight thousand one hundred? Oh man." He took three black chips from his stack. "Well, I'm definitely drawing live. What do you have left, TK?"

"I started the hand with twenty seven thousand, so...twenty thousand five hundred behind," Takeru said flatly.

"I...oh man. Okay." He tossed the chips in. "I call. I can't fold this."

Immediately, Miyako snapped a trio of black chips over the yellow line.

"Oh, snap call," Takeru said, watching John pull all the chips in. "Maybe my hand isn't good, I'm concerned now."

"Seventeen thousand one hundred in the middle," John said. "River coming."

A card was burned, and the four of clubs was laid down on the table surface.

"Check," Akira said immediately. "You don't even have to ask, I check, of course."

Miyako looked almost pained as she looked at the river card. "Yeah, check."

Takeru turned to accept the small plate of bisque from Hikari. "Thank you," he said. "Hold on, I'm not sure what I wanna do yet."

"Well, you're not allowed to ask the lobster for advice," Ken said dryly.

"The lobster would definitely shove," Takeru said, turning back to the table. "But, uh...four thousand nine hundred."

As he leaned forward, counting out four black chips and nine white ones, Akira made an audible little hiss.

"Less than a third of the pot," Akira said, looking back down at his cards, shaking his head. "I can only beat a bluff. I flopped so good too." He tossed his cards over to John. "Please let me be proud of that fold."

Miyako pushed her glasses up her nose a bit, squeezing her eyes shut. "I mean...ten-nine of diamonds? Five-six of diamonds, maybe?"

Takeru gave nothing away externally, but he felt a lot of relief internally. If Miyako had his flush beat, she would have already called.

She stretched her back out. "I snap-called the turn, the river was a blank, and now I'm actually considering folding, that's the sick thing." She gave a defeated sigh. "I guess if I called the turn, I have to call the river."

"If it helps, I put you on a pocket pair between nines and queens," Takeru said. "Nines, tens, jacks, queens. Not sure which one, but it's one of those. Am I right?"

Miyako gave a sardonic grin. "Does it even matter which one it is to you? Alright." She grabbed five black chips from her stack. "I mean, I've made my hand, I can't make my hand, put all this money in, and then just fold." She tossed the five chips in. "Set of queens."

"You read my hand right," Takeru said, flipping up ten-nine of diamonds. The sight of Takeru's cards prompted a head shake from Miyako. "Good read."

"Doesn't count if I call anyway," Miyako turned to take another sip from the glass of wine. "It's just, like, I know I'm beat, but my hand is too good to throw away."

"Good fold, Akira, whatever you had," Takeru added, looking over to his left.

"Two pair," Akira replied, cracking his neck with a quick jerk. "King eight of spades. I knew I should have three-bet the flop, and I just didn't do it."

John scooped the significantly-sized pot in Takeru's direction, who began the process of stacking his winnings.

"Oh boy," Yuma grunted. "Takeru's the chip leader now, everyone hold onto your butts."

"I should just start folding in the dark," Sammy joked. "He's about to run over all of us like an eighteen-wheeler."

OOO

"Yeah, I know stud is an easy game, that's the thing, it's boring," Daisy said, looking down at her two down cards. "What's the point if it's not fun?" She tossed those two cards, along with her face-up jack, in towards John.

"What are you talking about? You played stud all the time at academy, you were great at it!" Akira tossed in two hidden cards and an exposed eight.

"Yeah, that was just to be part of the action, so I could be with my friends, so I wouldn't get left out," Daisy said. "Same reason I'm playing stud with you guys right now, I'm not just gonna leave. But playing against strangers, I'll pass, I'm doing enough events this year as it is."

"I raise," Hido announced, putting in two green chips. Takeru craned his neck up to look over, seeing that Hido had a face-up ten of hearts in front of him.

Miyako folded, and Ken tossed in two green chips. "I'm in." Takeru took note of Ken's exposed king of clubs.

Takeru looked back down at his face-up queen of diamonds, then peeled up the corners of his two hidden cards, taking a second look. Seven of hearts, seven of diamonds.

"I call," Takeru said, tossing another green chip in.

"Alright, we've got three players," John said. "Twenty-five hundred in the pot."

"Besides, the ratings aren't that high for stud events, everyone watches Holdem," Daisy continued. "I'm not losing any exposure or anything."

John took the top card off the deck, flipped it face-up, and gave it to Hido. Two of hearts. He took the next one and tossed it to Ken, a five of spades. The next card went to Takeru, the seven of clubs.

"So what are you gonna wear at the World Series?" Yuma asked, looking over at Daisy. "You have your outfits planned?"

"Bet," Hido said, putting yet another green chip over the yellow line.

Ken was quick to push his own green chip in.

"You gonna wear something low-cut?" Daryl asked.

"Well, obviously," Daisy said. "That's part of my poker table modus operandi, that's a given."

"You could go for the attention-grabbing outfits," Sammy said. "Bizarre clothing, get everyone's attention, make sure they don't forget you, that's exposure right there. Show up in a bird costume."

"I raise," Takeru announced, putting in two green chips.

Daisy gave a little grin. "I could just show up to the events with no makeup, a tanktop, short-shorts that say 'Juicy' on the back and flip-flops," she suggested. "I think I'd take fifteen years off my mother's life if she turned on the television and saw me like that." Daisy turned her head to look over at Hikari. "Carve me out some of that cheesecake, please."

"Coming right up," Hikari said, flittering over to the counter.

Hido and Ken both tossed in another green chip wordlessly, signifying calls. John gave Hido another face-up card, the three of clubs, then tossed Ken the queen of spades, and finally gave Takeru the four of clubs. "That's fifth street dealt out, bet size is now one thousand."

"Check," Hido said.

Ken quickly followed behind. "I check."

"Bet," Takeru said quickly, reaching forward with a stack of green in his hand and placing out two of them, confident that his set of sevens were the best hand right now.

"I'm calling," Hido said, tossing out two green chips of his own.

Ken took a moment to consider his options. "Well, let's see here." He turned to look at Hido's upcards. "Okay. Ten of hearts, two of hearts, three of clubs." He turned to Takeru's. "Queen of diamonds, seven of clubs, four of clubs, what the hell do you have in the hole?" He scratched the bridge of his nose. "Please don't tell me you're trying to bluff in stud, you know that doesn't work." He grabbed two chips off the top of his green pile and pushed them forward. "Yeah, I call."

"Six street," John announced. "Pot at eight thousand five hundred." He tossed a nine of hearts to Hido, followed by the four of spades to Takeru and the eight of hearts to Ken.

"Bet," Hido said immediately, putting out two green chips.

"Well, someone just got there," Ken said, picking up his pile of face-up and face-down cards and tossing them over to John. "I'm out."

"I raise," Takeru said the moment Ken's cards had hit the muck, putting out four green chips.

"Oh, you do NOT have a four in the hole!" Hido said loudly, turning to take a drag out of a glass of dark beer. "Sell it to someone else, I raise!" He put out four more green chips.

Takeru puffed a breath out of his nose, then reached back down to look at his two hole cards. "Huh, you're right. Re-raise." Another four green chips went to the center from Takeru's hand.

Slowly, Hido's grin faded from his face. He craned his head up to consider Takeru's four face-up cards. "Queen, seven, four, four with two clubs, I...I mean, are you kidding me?" He snatched up two green chips and threw them over the yellow line. "Yeah, I call."

"Last card coming, big pot, sixteen thousand five hundred dollars! This one coming face-down!" John announced. He tossed Hido a card, then Takeru.

"Yeah, I'm checking," Hido said, waving his right hand over at Takeru without even looking at his seventh card.

Takeru took a quick look at the card he had just been dealt, going through the motions of acting as if he even cared what it was. Seven of spades.

"Bet," Takeru said quickly, taking a black chip and tossing it in.

Hido grimaced. "Can I seriously just get coolered every single hand here?" He looked down at the three cards he had face-down before him. "I can't fold, that's for sure." He looked down at his rapidly dwindling stack pile, then took a black chip and threw it over. "Show me your full house."

"I could show you a full house, but this is better," Takeru said, taking his three face-down cards and turning them over, revealing three sevens to go with his seven already visible.

"Oh, wow!" Ken said, leaning forward to look at Takeru's cards. "I thought my pair of kings were no good, but I didn't know they were THAT not good."

Hido, disgusted, tossed his seven cards over to John. "I hit an ace-high flush on sixth street and I'm drawing dead, that's just..." He threw his hands up in the air. "Just beautiful, just last week he hits a royal on me, now he hits...quads."

"The life of Takeru," Daryl said, giving him a small smile. "Hitting quads with three of the cards down. Doesn't matter what the game is, he's hitting the cards he needs."

"Alright." Takeru stretched his arms up over his head as John pushed the chip pile over to Takeru. "Let's go back to Holdem, that's enough stud."

"Rebuy," Hido said gruffly, reaching into a small pack on the back of his chair and pulling a stack of cash from it.

OOO

"Alright, I straddled, so you're first Daisy," Takeru said, pointing over at his left. His two cards remained face down before him, Takeru choosing to not have a peek until it was his turn to act.

"Well you can certainly afford it," Akira said, peering over with a tinge of jealousy at Takeru's mountain of chips.

"Cards are back on my side," Takeru admitted as Daisy kicked her cards in.

Action was quick, players folding their hands over to John in short order. Hido, still in the seat to the direct left of the dealer, took a long look down at his two cards.

"Alright." Hido's voice was low, as a rough night of cards was clearly wearing on the young man. He sat there, arms crossed over the other, then he slowly reached forward towards his stack. He grabbed a black chip and a green chip, flicking them to the center. Miyako, after a quick consideration of her cards, made a matching bet of two mismatched chips.

Ken and Sammy quickly mucked, putting the turn back to Takeru.

"Eleven hundred to me?" Takeru said quietly, finally deciding to see what he had been dealt. His fingers pried up the corners of the cards, showing him the king of diamonds and king of clubs. Only years of practice allowed him to conceal delight at being dealt a monster on his straddle. He cut out a pile of black chips and began shuffling them around, looking over at Hido and Miyako.

Finally, after silent consideration, his right hand began darting from stack to stack, collecting assorted chips. Ultimately, he went forward with six black chips, two green chips, and one white chip.

John's hands reached out towards Takeru's offering, counting the bet out. "Raise six thousand."

Hido gave a low whistle, his cheeks puffing out. He looked over at Takeru, trying to pick up on something from his mannerisms. Takeru sat there like a statue, giving away nothing. Finally, Hido tossed in six black chips.

"Two overbets, huh," Miyako muttered, reaching for her stack, stopping to tap her index finger on top of one of her black chips. Finally, she tossed her cards back over to John, shelfing the black chips back in her stack. "Have fun, boys."

"Two players. Sixteen thousand eight hundred in the pot," John announced, pooling the chips.

"How much do you have behind?" Takeru asked, looking over at Hido's chipstack.

"About twenty-four thousand," Hido answered quickly. "If I double up here, I'm almost even on the night."

"I'd wish you good luck, but I'd be lying," Takeru replied, looking over at John as he dealt out the flop. Ten of clubs, queen of hearts, four of diamonds.

"Ooh, can I get some of the truffles?" Sammy pointed over towards the counter. "Truffles sound good right now."

Takeru was vaguely aware of Hikari scampering over to the counter of plates of food as he silently contemplated his options. Finally, his fingers tapped the table a few times.

Hido's brow twitched a bit as Takeru put the action over on him. He turned to look at the flop, eyes wide and intensely focused on them. The entire table was watching, as everyone wanted to see the end result of this already massive pot.

Hido took out a full stack of green chips and shoved it forward. A ten thousand dollar bet.

Takeru rubbed the side of his head, deep in thought. He could feel footsteps as Hikari brought the small plate of truffles over to Sammy, but paid them no heed. To call now would be to almost certainly face an all-in on the turn, so calling now was almost locking him in to committing another fourteen thousand later.

Finally, Takeru cut out a half-stack of blacks and threw them in.

"Thirty-six thousand eight hundred in the pot," John said, putting down a burn card and then setting the king of spades out on the board.

Takeru again took several long seconds to ponder things, no sound but the clacking of chips in the air. He tapped the table a few times.

Hido swallowed down hard, playing with his chips, intentionally trying to avert his gaze from Takeru and keep his eyes on the board of cards. He had two stack of green and four black chips still in front of him. With deep consideration, he grabbed the four black chips and fired them over the yellow line.

Takeru couldn't supress the reflexive reaction of wrinkling his forehead in confusion over the tiny sizing from Hido. Takeru blinked several times, his relaxing back into a flat expression, trying to not give away any clues as to the strength of his hand.

"Okay, I'm all-in," Takeru announced. He could see Hido jolt a bit out of the corner of his eye, though he kept his focus on cutting out fourteen black chips, a size sufficient to put all of Hido's chips in the middle if he wanted to call.

Hido sighed quite audibly, slumping back in his chair, the clear look of a defeated man. He reached up to scratch his eyebrows. "I guess I have to call." He leaned forward again, shrugging. "I call."

Takeru quickly flipped up his two kings, hearing the hiss of disgust from Hido. He looked up in time to see Hido expose his two cards, the ten of spades and the ten of hearts.

"Set over set, wow," Daisy said, leaning forward to look at all the cards. "Holy crap."

"I figured I got lucky with that king on the turn," Takeru admitted. "Didn't know I got that lucky though. That bet sizing on the turn was weird, I was trying to figure that one out."

"I was trying to...to make sure you'd call with ace queen, ace king, or aces," Hido said, not even sounding all that upset, more worn out. He winced. "Can we run it twice?"

"Sure." Takeru nodded. "Let's run it twice, John."

"Running it twice," John said.

"I'm not gonna be mad if you don't do it or anything, I don't have enough energy to get mad right now." Hido looked up at John as he burned a card to the side. "But I really, really could use the one-outer right now. He hit one on me last week, I could really use this."

John put down the six of spades, securing the first run in Takeru's favor.

"Did anyone fold the last ten?" Hido asked, reaching up to rub his face, which had gone slightly red. "Doesn't make any difference, you can tell me now."

"Such a brutal hand," Yuma said, a sympathy wince for Hido as he was given one chance to hit one out to salvage the hand.

John pushed the six of clubs up on the table, then burned a card before putting down the eight of hearts.

"Alright." Hido stood up. "Nice hand." He began slowly walking off, towards the door. "I'm done. Good night."

Nobody said anything as Hido walked, almost gingerly, towards the door, letting him take the walk of felt in peace. It wasn't until he had departed, the door closed behind him, before anything said anything.

"I gotta admit, I would have flipped the table," Sammy said, nevertheless smiling a bit. "Set over set, a two-outer on the turn, can't help but feel for the guy."

"I feel for the guy, and I'm the one who took his chips," Takeru said, taking in the massive pot and beginning to stack it. "Guy can't catch a break lately."

"We've all been there," Miyako said, nevertheless grimacing. "He sucked out on you on the flop, you sucked out on him on the turn, that's how it goes."

"Should we keep playing eight-handed?" Ken asked, looking around the at remaining players.

Takeru turned around to look at Hikari, who had taken her seat again. "Hey, open seat," Takeru said, pointing at Hido's vacated chair. "Minimum buy-in of ten grand, you want it?"

Hikari's mouth opened slightly and she went a bit red.

"Hey, I'll stake you," Takeru said, pointing at his chipstack. "You in?"

"U-uh...I "

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," Takeru said quickly, realizing that Hikari was still struggling with understanding such humor. "Don't worry about it, I'm kidding." He turned back around towards the table. "Yeah, let's play with eight."

"I don't even think I want her in the room," Sammy said, a small grin on his face as he waited for John to deal out the cards.

"What does that mean?" Takeru gave Sammy a bit of an odd look.

"You know how superstitious I am about these things," Sammy explained, turning to point over at Hikari. "When she's in the room, it seems like you catch every card."

"Maybe he's on to something," Daisy said, looking over at Hikari. "I mean, you rivered a royal flush when you were playing Hido for her, right?"

"Hey, hey, what have we all been taught about being results-oriented?" Takeru said chidingly. "What have we all been caught about correlation and causation? That's like, poker one-oh-one, come on now."

"Oh come on, give the girl some credit," Daryl said, pointing over at her. "You should at least cut her out a few chips from your winnings, the least you can do with all the good karma she's sending your way."

"I don't believe in karma," Takeru said, looking down at hole cards of the nine of hearts and the king of hearts. "Okay, who raised?"

"I raised to five hundred," Daryl answered, pointing at his green chip just past the yellow line.

"What do you believe in?" Akira asked.

"I believe in...running good, catching cards, and getting lucky," Takeru answered, reaching forward and pulling his big blind back in towards him, then putting out a green chip.

As John collected the small supply of chips into the middle, however, Takeru did turn and give Hikari a quick glance. Admittedly, carving out a profit of two hundred thousand dollars over the two games Hikari had been present for was pretty spectacular. It was one thing to catch great cards, it was another for his opponents to have strong enough hands to pay him off. And that had been happening over and over lately.

"Could you refill my water, please?" Takeru asked, taking his mostly-empty glass and presenting it over to her. She took it and quickly ran over to the counter.

At the least, her presence wasn't hurting his play.

Takeru turned back around to look at a flop of the ten of diamonds, jack of hearts, and four of clubs. "I check," Takeru said, pointing over to Daryl. 


	7. Levelling

Chapter 7: Levelling

Hikari's eyelids fluttered open, half her vision obscured by the pillow her face was buried in. Slowly, she rolled over, easing herself awake, turning her face over towards the side of the room with the door.

Her client stood there, back to her, slipping into a pair of grey pants. She just laid there silently, watching as he dressed himself.

"Enjoy your day," Hikari finally said as the man grabbed his suit jacket and slipped it on. He jumped at her soft voice, quicking spinning around to look at her.

"S-sorry, I...I was trying to not wake you up," he said, nervously fidgeting his hands around in front of him.

"I have to get up anyway, it doesn't matter," Hikari replied, pulling the bedsheets up over her body, straightening them out a bit.

"T-thank you," he said. "I...it's been tough for me lately, this kind of thing...it really does help me mentally."

"That's what we're here for," Hikari replied. "Was it good for you? I'm very new to all this, I just started a couple weeks ago."

"Uh...yeah," he said, nodding. "I had a good time. I thought you were good."

"Thank you." Hikari rolled over a bit to look up at the ceiling. "Maybe I'll see you again."

"Uh, man...I never know how to say goodbye after these," he said, reaching up to scratch the top of his head. He had a thick head of dark black hair atop of a rather large head. It was about the only truly distinctive thing about him, the only thing Hikari could even think to distinguish him from anyone else she'd ever meet. "Oh, yeah!" He reached inside one of his suit pockets and threw a green slip of paper on the end table by the side of the bed. "I almost forgot, I always...put down a little extra at the end."

"Thank you," Hikari repeated. "Don't worry about saying goodbye."

He stood there, pursing his lips, mulling a few things over. Finally, he grabbed a small black briefcase leaning against the wall, turned to the door, and opened it. "See you." With a few steps, he had closed the door behind him, leaving Hikari alone in her room.

She took in a long, slow breath, filling her lungs, then gradually pushing it back out. It was a small exchange, with little meaning behind it, likely one that would be quickly forgotten, but it meant a lot to her. It was gratifying, to see how her work was making others happy. It was something she never really got to experience before.

Her thoughts abruptly came to an end as the door was pushed opened, the sound causing her to jolt and tilt her head up. Takeru entered the room, Hikari's body quickly flailing around as she reflexively tried to jump out of the bed.

"Don't worry, it's okay," Takeru said, holding his palm out towards her. "You don't have to get up."

Hikari stopped, suddenly remembering that she wasn't wearing anything underneath the sheet anyway, and instead quickly covered as much of her body as she could. She almost said something about Takeru not knocking, but stopped herself before the words got out.

"How are you?" Takeru asked, putting his hands in the pockets of his tan suit jacket.

"I...I'm good, sir, I'm actually...n-not wearing anything," she said cautiously, trying to be tactful.

"I figured," Takeru said, nevertheless not moving. "Don't worry about it, I don't mind."

Hikari went scarlett, hugging the sheet even closer to her chest, supressing the urge to protest his continued presence.

"Come on, you're doing the work that you're doing, you can't be self-conscious about these things. Especially with me," Takeru said dismissively. "So, I wanted to say, thanks for your work at the table last night, you did really well."

"Thank you, sir," Hikari replied, eager to accelerate the conversation forward to get to the point where Takeru would leave the room. "It's not a problem, I'm here to do whatever you require of me."

"Right." Takeru nodded, thinking for a moment. "So, about last night, I wanted to talk about it a little bit, because, well..." he pursed his lips, tilting his head back and forth a few times. "How do I say this without sounding like a moron? Okay, you don't know very much about poker, I know, but...at it's core, it's a game being played where money is won and lost, you understand that much, right?"

Hikari nodded. "I understand that, sir."

"Okay, so...sorry, I just feel like a bit of a schmuck for even talking about this sort of thing, it's really kind of silly and I know it, but...okay." He cleared his throat. "So, you've been in the room during a poker game in which I was involved...three times in the last few weeks. That night with all my friends at Hido's house, the heads up match with Hido where I won you, and last night." He pulled himself off of the wall, pacing towards the bed. "Now, I'm a...a very, very good poker player, that's not me being vain, that's just the case. I've always been very good among my peers, played a ton of it at academy, play a ton of it now, and I've always done great, but those three nights...I've never done better. Maybe I've done as good a few times, but I've never done better. Not just playing well, but the cards I'm getting, the cards my opponents are getting, it's all come together perfectly almost."

Hikari gave Takeru a bewildered look, blinking up at him with her large eyes. "Are...are you saying...me being there...made you get good cards?" she said slowly, taking a moment to think about the way in which the game was played, and how the presence of a person could change anything.

Takeru couldn't help but laugh, bending his head down to look at the floor. "I mean, you saying that...that sort of captures the absurdity of the whole thing," Takeru said, a wry smile on his face. "You've captured the stupidity of this line of thought in a truly beautiful way. And I know it too!"

Hikari wasn't quite sure what to say, still trying to figure out if Takeru was being serious, or if what she had said had somehow offended him.

"Okay, so, clearly, I'm not suggesting that you are, somehow, getting me good cards by being in the room, that's...nuts." He reached up to scratch the back of his head. "Not that what I'm about to say ISN'T about as nuts, but...well, there's this thing called superstition. A lot of poker players, even great ones, are superstitious. Basically, it's...a belief that an event can cause another event, without anything linking the two events. Like, if a certain something happens, or you do something, you'll get good luck. Make sense?"

"I...I know about the concept of luck," Hikari answered. "It's, like...good things happen to you without you doing anything to cause it."

"Right." Takeru nodded. "Some players, champion players, think that...not stacking your chips evenly is bad luck, that getting dealt the two red aces are better than the two black aces, that even-numbered seats are unlucky, there are a lot. And none of it makes any logical sense, there's absolutely no way you can connect things like that to success or failure, but some people believe it." He paused for a moment, seeming to struggle to find the right words. "So, applying this line of logic, it...could be said that you being in the room when I'm playing poker seems to be bringing me good luck."

"So...so you're superstitious, and you think I'm bringing you good luck?" Hikari asked, not sure at all how to react to all this or where he might be going.

Takeru gave a tiny little chuckle. "You know, the funny thing is, I'm really not. I've never been. Back at academy, a lot of the players, they'd...they'd refuse to change their clothes when they were on a hotstreak, which was really unpleasant after awhile, they'd refuse to play the hand immediately following a misdeal, they'd play bad hands like...eight five offsuit because eighty-five was their favorite number, things like that. But I just...I just played, didn't really have any rituals to bring good luck or ward off bad luck."

Hikari still had no idea where Takeru was going with any of this. What was the point he was trying to make? If he didn't believe in superstitions, then why was he even talking about this with her?

"And playing that way has served me so well so far, but..." he heaved a sigh. "Well, there's a lot at stake here." He looked back up at her. "Do you know what the World Series of Poker is?"

Hikari shook her head back and forth a couple times.

"It's a series of poker tournaments, over sixty of them, held over a two-month period, over in Branson City. It's basically the biggest show on earth for poker players. Nonstop poker, action is almost always going, millions of dollars in every prize pool, all the best players in the world...it's the pinnacle of professional poker. It's been held every year for the last sixty years, and every year it gets bigger." He pointed up towards his face. "For a guy like me, it's the ultimate showcase. Everything is televised, cameras are everywhere, more than half the world watches the bigger events, and the players that do well become household names. I turned twenty a few months ago, so I'm old enough to compete in it now, and it starts next week. I'm going to play in as many tournaments as I can, so I'll be risking as much as a quarter million dollars in total." He swallowed down hard.

He was almost acting nervous. It was a far cry from how Hikari was used to seeing her owner. So far, she had only seen him as supremely confident and cool, in control of every situation. Somehow, it was this subject that was taking Takeru out of his comfort zone.

"Which, to me, is a lot of money. Understand, the casino is my father's, and I can't just go up to him and hold out my hand for a poker bankroll. I'll be risking about a quarter of my bankroll on this, and if I want to make a profit, I need to play well and get good cards. And the exposure I'll get if I play well is invaluable as well, so there's a ton on the line for me over these next two months." He chewed on his lower lip for a second. "So...you know...anything I can do to help my chances, I really should do it. Having you around seems to...well, help my chances."

"You...you're saying you want me to come with you to this World Series of Poker?" Hikari asked, still a bit confused about Takeru seeming to contradict himself with each few sentences he spoke.

Takeru's eyes bulged a bit, still a bit of an uncomfortable smile on his face. "I mean...it's just one of those things where, it's silly, but...why take a chance, I guess? If I go without you and I don't do well, I'll just...for the rest of my life, I'll have it in the back of my head, wondering what if, and it'll drive me nuts. So..." He shrugged. "I leave next week, I've rented out a hotel room over in Branson, I'm pretty much gonna live there for two months. I was going to take a slave anyway, so last night, I was thinking, and I figured...why not make it you?"

Hikari looked up at Takeru, blinking down hard a couple times. Just when she thought things couldn't get any better for her, was she seriously being told that her job for the next couple months would be to simply exist and be in the room with Takeru when he was playing a game?

"So you'll be taken off the Angels for a little while, which I know isn't ideal since you're just starting, but that's fine. And yeah, I'll have you be doing a few other things as the need comes up, but for the most part...just be there and send the good vibes my way." He nodded. "And don't tell my friends about this luck thing, it's kind of embarrassing, if they ask, you're just coming along to serve me in a more general sense."

"Yes sir, anything you'd like," Hikari replied, nodding. While she was finding her new line of work interesting, the idea of being tasked with doing, more or less, nothing for two months was nothing short of a dream. She almost had to fight to not break out into a grin, as if she had to hide her giddyness in being assigned such a simple task. Not that she could say no to an order from Takeru anyway, but this was certainly something she'd never dream of declining.

"Alright." He clapped. "Good! I'll leave you be." He made a beeline for the door, moving a little quicker than typical, as if he was doing something he shouldn't be doing and wanted to get away in a hurry.

OOO

"You'd almost never guess that I was tortured half to death less than a month ago," Taichi said, pacing around in front of Hikari, quite proud of his ability to walk in such a casual and normal way.

The rehabiliation room was mostly just an open area, a wood panel floor with a large mirror on the far wall. A few stationary bicycles were against the right wall, and a couple of brown railings were running along all the walls. Taichi, however, was making use of only the open space in the middle of the room.

"I'm really happy to see you back on your feet," Hikari said, treating Taichi's ability to walk as a feat of amazement, as it was a minor miracle all things considered. "I was so scared that, even if you lived...you'd never be the same again, never be able to do anything again."

"I did some running this morning," Taichi continued. "They said in two days I'd be able to start lifting stuff, and from there I can start working again. They're saying it's gonna be a full recovery and everything."

Hikari beamed at her brother. "Soon you'll be out there unloading trucks twice as fast as anyone else."

Taichi grimaced. "They did say that...the odds of me ever being able to procreate were...less than great. So there's that."

"Well who wants to procreate when you're a slave? You're just bringing another slave into the world," Hikari pointed out. "Guaranteeing nothing but a life of misery for your child."

"Don't tell me you don't want to be an aunt one day," Taichi said jokingly. "You don't think you'd make a great aunt? You wouldn't love to be an aunt?"

Hikari sighed, then gave a little smile. "Well, that's true. Oh well. So, I have some more good news, thought I'd share, since you might not see me for a couple months."

Taichi froze midstep, looking over at his younger sister. "W-what do you mean?" he asked quickly.

"Takeru's going on a...he's going to a thing, he's gonna be there for a couple months, and he wants me to come with him," Hikari said, giving the shortest summary she could. "I don't know if he'll be coming back here at any point, so I might not be around for awhile."

"Uh-huh." Taichi reached up to scratch his forehead. "Do you know anything else? Is this dangerous or something?"

"Not at all." Hikari grinned. "You're not going to believe what I'm about to tell you, it's really...it's good, believe me. So, Takeru is going to this place to...play a game against a bunch of other people. Card game, poker. And he thinks that...me being there when he's playing is bringing him good luck. He just wants me to be there when he's playing, seriously!"

Taichi thought for a moment. "Good luck?"

"Yeah, he...I've been in the room a few times when he was playing, and he says he always did really well, so...I don't know, it was so strange, he kept insisting that he didn't believe in things like this, but...it was kind of hard to follow, he was all over the place. But yeah, he...he says he's going to be risking a lot of money, and he doesn't want to...to take any chances. Whatever that means." Hikari shrugged. "So he's taking me with him."

Taichi's forehead wrinkled, and he went over to one of the mirrored walls, leaning up against the wood rail. "All you have to do is...be there when he's playing? That's it?"

"I'm sure there will be a few other things he'll have me do, but...for the most part, as near as I could tell, that's what he wants me for." Hikari gave a thin little smile.

"Wow," Taichi said. "These rich people, it's unreal."

"What, are you complaining? Are you upset?" Hikari raised an eyebrow at her brother.

"Oh, of course not, I'm thrilled!" Taichi said quickly. "Anything that gets you away from having intercourse with random people, please, go for it!" He nodded. "It's just, you know...you're a resource for this guy. You're a resource that he uses to do things to either make money or make his life easier. And he wants you to just sit there while he's playing a game because of some...belief in you making him lucky. Like, imagine having so much money you can use a resource on something like that and not even have to think about it."

"Hey. If I am actually good luck for him, then I am helping him make money," Hikari pointed out, coming over to the mirrored wall and leaning up against the railing as well.

Taichi gave a tiny, hiccuping little laugh. "Maybe it's just the more than two decades of working as a slave that I've gone through. Guess it's hard to believe in something bringing you luck when you've never had any."

Hikari gestured at him. "Hey, you're here now. You're being healed to peak condition after sustaining such a brutal injury. That's kind of lucky."

Taichi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I feel really lucky after what I went through." He pointed down at his legs. "This isn't luck, at best it's...the...the un-luck I've had slowly starting to undo itself." He grimaced. "Now that I think about it, I'm the one who got tortured to within an inch of my life, I'M the one who should be given a job that involves sitting around and doing nothing."

Hikari thought for a moment, a bit of a cheeky smile on her face. "When you put it that way...maybe I should start believing in luck. I seem to be on a run of it lately."

Taichi scoffed, but nevertheless took the couple steps over to her and embraced her in a hug. "In case I don't see you again before you leave, know that I love you." He looked down at her. "And I'm beyond thrilled you're getting handed such easy work, it's all that I've ever wanted. Seriously, if this guy keeps thinking you're bringing him good luck, maybe this'll be your job forever, that'd be amazing."

"Thank you," Hikari replied, returning the hug. "Just stay out of trouble while I'm gone."

OOO

"All I can say is that Takeru must have really, really taken a liking to you."

The Angel Suite was a little crowded tonight, eight girls currently occupying the unofficial headquarters, all of them inbetween clients and wanting to socialize a bit. Hikari knew most of them only superficially, but she was very appreciative of how they had welcomed her into their group, making her feel like she was part of something valuable for the first time in her life.

Ashley was a bit of a big girl, towering several inches over Hikari and most of the other girls. She was almost an intimidating presence, but any fear from being around her was quick to melt away after spending some time with her. A long mane of black hair fell past her shoulders, a bit curly and wavy, framing a pretty face.

Hikari shrugged, mouth wrinkling up a bit. "He...he said he thinks that I'm good luck for him when he's playing poker."

"Sounds like an excuse," Ren said. She was an oriental beauty, silky black hair falling all the way down to her waist, the doe eyes and almost heart-shaped face that was so desirable to many men. "You know, he doesn't want to come out and say he's really into you, so he comes up with something about luck."

"He's into me?" Hikari repeated, sounding a little sarcastic. "Into me? Really? Guy could have any woman he wants, he sets his sight on me? I'm sure." She bit her cheek. "One of his friends he was playing poker with, her name was...Daisy, he's got that woman in his life, and he's into me, that's totally happening."

"She's not talking about that sort of thing," Heather said, seated behind the desk in the middle of the room. "He was definitely going to take a slave to this thing, we've known about it for months, and he's choosing you, that's gotta mean something."

Hikari turned to Heather. "So...he did it because he's taken a liking to me? What about me could he like? I just got here a few weeks ago."

"Well, you got here in a much more dramatic fashion than other slaves," Heather pointed out, putting her hand to her chin in thought. "A poker game with your life hanging in the balance, maybe it's just left an impression on him. You've spent a lot of time around him specifically in recent times too, you might just be fresh in his mind. But this definitely means something, and you should feel really good about it."

"I do," Hikari said, nodding happily. "I've been doing hard labor for my entire life, now I'm being told that I get to just sit there and watch my master play cards, it's incredible!"

"Heather always says that the worst thing the Angels can do is get jealous of one another, breaks apart our camaraderie." Illana, a dark-skinned girl with shoulder-length black hair, was laying down on the floor with her bare feet resting up on the wall. "But I'm not going to lie, Hikari, I'm feeling the green monster right now."

"Well, I'm sure Takeru didn't want to disrupt our schedules with clients since most of us have appointments booked over the next two months," Heather added. "Might have played into it as well. Anyway, I'm sure you'll have some other duties when he's not playing, but it's gonna be super easy stuff. I've been Takeru's personal slave before, he likes to handle a pretty good portion of things himself. And, don't sweat it when he asks for some action, I know it's intimidating, but just remember your training and he'll be fine. And don't forget to enjoy the ride, because it's amazing."

"Yeah, I can't..." Hikari's grin slowly faded, and she blinked down hard a couple times. "W-wait, I'm sorry?"

Heather looked over at Illana. "Lana, you've got that appointment in three minutes."

The slim beauty pulled her legs off the wall, rolling over and standing up. "See you all later tonight."

Heather looked back to Hikari. "I'm just saying that, yeah, Takeru has a lot of experience, but don't let it scare you, he enjoys taking the lead so just let him."

Hikari stared blankly, reaching up to push a strand of brown hair out of her face. "Heather, I'm sorry, I...are you talking about...you're not talking about...sex with Takeru, are you?"

Heather shrugged. "Well, yeah, I can only assume that's one of the reasons why he's taking you with him. It's thousands of miles away, so it's not like he can just come here whenever he wants and have one of us, and he knows you have some experience and you're clean, so I'm sure it's going to come up eventually."

Hikari blanched. Now that she thought about it, maybe it was stupid that she was surprised, but that didn't change the fact that she was. "You...you think he's going to have sex with me while we're over there?"

"Who else is he gonna have sex with?" Ashley asked, having gone over to lean against the west wall. "It's either you or he's paying for a prostitute, and all the risks that come with that."

"W-well, he...I mean...does he have to have sex?" Hikari asked awkwardly.

Ren gave a small little laugh. "That's a...that's a fun way to phrase a question." She nodded. "I think, yeah, he probably does. He sure does like it an awful lot."

"Hey, I just said, don't be nervous, it's a good thing!" Heather said, leaning over towards Hikari. "Ask any one of us, he knows what he's doing, he'll easily be the best you've ever had."

"Well, yeah, I don't mind doing it, I'll do it, I-I just wasn't expecting..." The edges of Hikari's mouth twitched, suddenly catching up on processing the things she had just been told. "W-wait. A-any...any one of us?"

"Oh." Heather suddenly grimaced. "Okay, I guess I never really mentioned, I didn't think it would matter yet, but...it's kind of...part of the arrangement. For the angels."

Hikari just stood there, face wrinkled in confusion, waiting for Heather to elaborate.

"You know, I mean, maybe it just feels normal to me, but...it really is just a small extension of the job we're already doing." Heather shrugged again. "But yeah, it's part of the deal. We work as prostitutes for the casino to provide monetary value, and on top of that...we give him action when he wants it."

Hikari recoiled a tiny bit, a reflexive reaction. "He...like, all of you?"

"Oh yeah," Heather said, very casually, either ignorant or uninterested in Hikari's obviously shocked reaction. "Most nights, he calls in, asks which girls have open slots, and then has one of them sent up to him room. He's had all of us multiple times...except you, I guess."

"And...and you guys...well, you're...okay with that?" Hikari asked.

Heather shrugged. "Why wouldn't we be? Having sex with people is our job here, he's just one more person we do it with. And...trust me, he's better than any of the others." She gave a little laugh.

"Yeah, but...it's...it's different!" she insisted, still clearly discomforted by this line of reasoning. "The clients we get are completely different! This is...so what, he just...rotates through all of us from night to night?"

"Not a precise...rotation, he just picks the one he wants each night." Heather cleared her throat. "Think about it, we kind of...owe it to him. Look at where we are and what we're doing, where would we be without Takeru? No harm in giving him action when he wants it, we don't mind."

"T-this is what he wants, though?" Hikari stammered. "Just to...take turns with thirty different women?"

"How is it different from the clients? He's a guy who wants to have sex, only difference is he doesn't pay for it." Heather looked down at one of the charts on the desk in front of her.

"Yeah, I understand, but it's...totally different. The clients...they're here because they can't get sex anywhere else! They have to pay for it because they don't have other options!" She pointed up at the ceiling. "He...he doesn't...don't you think...you really don't think it's a little...I don't know, wrong?"

"Why wouldn't he do this?" Ashley asked, stepping into the conversation. "Think about it, he's a young, handsome, wealthy man who's enjoying life, why commit himself to one woman now? Why not...sample from the buffet he's got in front of him instead?"

"Uh..." Hikari scratched the back of her head. "I...I don't know, it's...I mean, I'm still new to all this, but I just didn't think he'd...maybe I'm just naive, but this just...it feels weird."

Heather made a bit of an odd grunting noise. "To a massive majority of people...it's definitely weird. To Takeru, it's really not. He's spent his whole life around casinos, the glitz and the glamour, the fast-paced lifestyles, nothing normal about it. So I'll agree with you there, it's certainly not normal." She put her hands up by the side of her head. "But what's the harm? We've never minded doing it. It's one of the best parts of the job, honestly."

Hikari wanted to continue protesting the acceptance of such an arrangement. But she chose instead to swallow down hard and think for a moment. This was a slight extension of the job that she already had, a job that she actually appreciated, and all things considered maybe it was kind of an implied part of it. On the surface, it was definitely a good thing. Nothing that she should have a big problem with. Something she could certainly do, and probably even enjoy.

It was her gut that reacted so negatively. Something in her stomach just didn't like this. But she wasn't quite sure how to express it.

"I-I'm not saying I won't do it!" Hikari said, changing gears suddenly. "I-I'm not...even talking about it from my side, you're right, from my side he's not any different from a client, I get that. I...I don't mind me doing it."

"Well, good." Heather peeled up a couple of the charts in front of her on the desk. "I could be totally wrong, maybe he's not after that, but I think it's a safe assumption."

"It's not that...I think it's disgusting or repulsive for me to do it or anything, it's...it's him. Takeru, I...it feels funny coming from him, I just wouldn't have guessed." She gave a small shrug. "I'll do it, don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem doing it, it's just the part where...I don't know."

"Alright honey," Heather said. "Sorry if I upset you, but it's not a bad thing, trust me. He's just a young man with rich parents who's living life to the fullest while he can." She pointed over at the door. "You've got a client in four minutes."

Hikari nodded, turning towards the door, still searching her brain for why her gut had such a strong objection to Takeru's arrangement.

OOO

~Takeru~

"I swear to God, I would pay some...doctor ten million dollars a year to just...come up with some pill you can swallow that...purges all the unhealthy stuff from your body," Hiroaki moaned, looking down at the glass of green sludge. "I would pay him ten million dollars a year, I'm so sick of all this kale your mother has me on."

"Look, if you wanna keep smoking and drinking like you do, there's a cost," Takeru said.

"I can't take another one of these kale shakes," the older man grunted. "You wouldn't believe the ways they get kale into stuff, they've got kale chips, kale pizza, kale dressing, they've ruined everything with kale."

"It's real good for you though," Takeru said.

"Hate these damn detoxes," he continued to complain. "A guy who works as hard as me should be able to eat and drink whatever I want, they gotta invent an easier way to stay healthy. I don't care how much it costs, I'll pay it, just don't make me eat this nonsense."

Takeru grinned. "Well...if you keep eating that kale, maybe you'll stay alive long enough to see someone invent something like that."

The father and son combination were standing on the balcony up on the top floor of the casino, overlooking the streets far below. They leaned up against the railing, trusting that the iron and wood could hold their weights. The two were watching the sun come up.

"God willing," Hiroaki said. "Anyway...when do you need to leave?"

"I can leave whenever I want, I'm leaving on my jet, it leaves whenever I want it to," Takeru replied.

"Wow, that's...one hundred percent the kind of thing I would say," Hiroaki said. "Man, that is precisely the sort of thing I'd say, that's almost scary." He smirked. "You know, I am proud of you."

"Sometimes I don't know," Takeru said, adjusting the lapels of his jacket. "What's there to be proud of? Your son is a degenerate gambler."

"I run a casino, son," Hiroaki countered. "I've made my living on the backs of exploiting degenerates."

"Which is a great reason for you to wish your son wasn't one of them," Takeru said, smiling nevertheless.

"Well, if you were a losing player, maybe," he said. "Come on, son, think about it. You took that ten thousand dollars I gave you when you were twelve, that ten thousand is now...what? Over a million?"

"If you're talking in terms of pure asset evaluation, it's over three million," Takeru said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"See? You've turned ten grand into over three million, you want me to say anything?" He shrugged. "Hey, I don't get it, it's not what I would do, it's not something that interests me, but...I don't have a problem with it anymore. I promise. Clearly, you understand it on a level that I don't."

Takeru nodded. "Yeah."

"You're an adult now, think about it. If your twelve-year-old son comes up to you and says he wants to start playing poker and wants a bankroll, of course you're going to be a little concerned and hesitant. And, yeah, it's not exactly the profession any parent has in mind for their kid, so when you just kept...playing and playing and winning and winning...I had my doubts." He grimaced. "Some people would say my profession isn't respectable though, so what can I say?"

"We'll know once and for all in a couple months," Takeru said, looking over towards the rising sun. "Now I get to play against the best in the world." He gave a little laugh. "Actually, if there was ever a time for you to encourage me to slow down and stop playing so much, it's probably now. I've been running over my friends, colleagues, amateurs, now I'm doing this. Maybe you should save me from myself."

"The thought had crossed my mind," Hiroaki said slyly. "I could just ground you for two months. But you've earned this. Earned a chance to see how good you really are." He pointed at his son. "And I'm gonna watch everything on television, I'm gonna see as many of your hands as I possibly can. I DO know enough about poker to watch it, I promise I'm watching as much as I can."

"Thanks. But the casino comes first, you gotta take care of it," Takeru said. "Especially with me gone for a couple months."

"It'll be fine. There are a couple other people I trust, you know. I mean, to a point. The place will still be standing when you get back, you just think about you." Hiroaki looked down towards the streets beneath the casino. "Maybe it'll be a chance for Yamato to step up and take on a role around here."

Takeru scoffed. "Somehow I don't see it," he said. "It's really nice of him, to make it so easy for me to be your favorite son, all I'd have to do is show a cursory interest in this place and I'd have it."

Hiroaki laughed at this, putting his hands on the railing after setting his half-drank kale shake down on a small table. "Hey, don't be so sure, it's not like your brother sits around all day. And his music career has already succeeded on the highest level, you haven't done anything as a professional poker player yet, maybe I'm prouder of him than you."

"Well that puts a lot of pressure on me over the next couple weeks," Takeru said dryly. "Come on, he's older than me, it's not a fair comparison. By the time I'm the age that he's at now I'll bet I have more World Series bracelets than he has gold records."

"Hey, if my two sons spend the rest of their lives competing to be more successful in their fields, I'm happy." Hiroaki took a quick drink from his glass, face wrinkling as he tried to swallow down the green goop.

"Alright dad," Takeru pulled away from the railing. "I gotta go grab Hikari and jump on the jet." He went up to his father and gave him a quick hug. "I'll come back at least a few times over the next couple months, you'll definitely see me a couple times."

"Hikari," Hiroaki repeated, thinking for a moment. "Is she the new one? The one who just got here? She's the one you're taking?"

"Yeah, she's the one I won off Hido, I told you about that, right?" Takeru pulled away from his dad.

"Sounds familiar," Hiroaki said. "Kinda surprised you're taking her." He put his hand out towards her. "I mean, don't let me...pry around too much in that sort of thing, but she just got here and all."

"It's not conventional," Takeru agreed. "Let's just say...she's left an impression on me, and I have a feeling things will go well for me if it's her." He turned towards the glass sliding doors. "I'm gonna say bye to mom, and then I'm getting out of here." 


	8. Shuffle Up and Deal

Chapter 8: Shuffle Up and Deal

Takeru took the stack of cards and spread them out on the surface of the table in a horizonal line, all the cards overlapping each other. They were all face down, so they all appeared identical, with the same diagram of thin red lines on each one. Takeru reached over and grabbed the corner of the card furthest to the left and flipped it over onto it's face. With all the cards overlapping, this also caused all the other ones to flip up as well.

The jet was coasting above the clouds, the ride as smooth as it was the first time Hikari had ridden in it, headed to Branson City. With nothing to do for the couple hours it would take to arrive, Takeru had chosen to use the time to give Hikari a crash course in poker. After all, if he was going to make her watch him play poker for the next couple months, the least he could do is try to give her some idea of what she was watching.

"This is called a deck of cards," Takeru explained. "There are fifty-two cards in a standard deck. Each card has two unique attributes, a value and a suit. There are thirteen values in all. There are the numbered values, two through ten. And there are the face values, jacks, queens, kings, and aces." Takeru spread the pile of cards out. "So each deck has four of each value, four eights, four kings, four threes, and so on."

"Then you have the suits. There are four suits total. Hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades. Like I said, there are four cards of each value in a deck, and each of those four is assigned one of the four suits. Therefore, every card in a deck is unique. There's one ace of clubs, one three of hearts, one nine of spades, and so on."

Hikari pointed down at the cards. "What about color? What does the color mean?"

"Color doesn't mean anything, except that diamonds and hearts are always red, and clubs and spades are always black. They don't affect the worth of the card." Takeru cleared his throat. "Now, on the most basic level of evaluating the worth of a card, the first thing to keep in mind is that the bigger cards have more value. A nine is worth more than a seven, a six is worth more than a three. Face cards are worth more than numbered cards. A jack beats a ten. Queen beats jack. King beats queen. Ace beats king. That's the basics behind the deck." He scooped the pile of cards up, straightening them up into a more orderly stack.

"As for the game, well, there are hundreds of variants of poker. The most popular in the world by far, and the one I'll be playing mostly, is called Holdem." He reached over towards the countertop by his seat and grabbed a circular white plate, and set it down on the table. "The players, anywhere from two to nine typically, sit around a table, with chips in front of them. One player is designated the 'button', and the action starts from there. The player to the left of the button is called the small blind, and is required to put some amount of chips into the pot. The player to the left of the small blind is called the big blind, and that player is also required to put chips in, and his amount is almost always double the small blind. So if the small blind had to put in fifty, the big blind would put in one hundred." As he spoke, he pointed at various spots on the outside of the plate, trying to use a visual aid.

Hikari tried to keep up. It helped that she got to watch a fair amount of people playing over the last few weeks, but it was still quite a bit to digest. She never got to play any kinds of games growing up, so she didn't really have the mind for it.

"After this, each player gets dealt two cards, face down, starting with the player to the left of the big blind. That player to the left of the big blind gets to act first after the cards are out. This player will look at his cards, and he can do one of three things. He can fold, which means he throws his cards back to the dealer, meaning he is no longer in the hand, and doesn't have to put any chips in the pot, but he also gives up any chance of potentially winning the pot. He can call, which means he puts in chips equal to the amount of the big blind, so in our example, one hundred. Think of it as a price you pay for getting to keep your cards and have a chance at winning the pot. Or he can raise, which means he puts in chips equal to the big blind plus more chips. So, as an example, he could put in the one hundred plus another one hundred on top of it."

"How does the player decide which one to do?" Hikari asked, scratching the side of her face.

Takeru gave a small grin. "That's where the game gets interesting. Typically, a player makes a decision based on how strong his two cards are. If he has two cards that are weak and are unlikely to make the best hand, he'll fold. If he has two cards that are good and have a chance to make the best hand, he'll call. And if he has two cards that are really strong and have a great chance to make the best hand, he'll raise. Of course, it's never that simple. Quite often, a player will get two weak cards and raise, trying to make it look like they have strong cards, and maybe get other players to fold decent cards. Or maybe a player gets two strong cards and just calls, to make it look like they're not so strong, and get players to underestimate their hand. So often, it's a simple decision for a player, but it can easily become a psychological war, where players try to do what other players wouldn't expect." He pointed again at the plate. "Once a player decides their action, the player to his left gets the same decision. However, if a player raises, then the players acting after that player have to equal that raise if they want to call. In our example, a player put in two hundred total, so the other players acting after that player would have to put in two hundred to call."

"Or those players could raise?" Hikari said, pointing down at the plate.

"Correct." Takeru ran his finger around the circumference of the plate. "This continues all the way around the table until every player has either folded, or matched the most recent raise. If the big blind is one hundred, and Alice raises to two hundred, and then Bob later raises to five hundred, when it's back to Alice's turn she has to either put in another three hundred or fold. Or raise. This process is called 'a round of betting'. After the round of betting has concluded, the dealer puts out what is called the flop."

He took three cards off the top of the deck and placed them, face-up, on the center of the plate. Three of clubs, king of clubs, ten of hearts.

"Here's where the real intrigue begins. Every player gets to use the three cards on the flop. They combine the three flop cards with the two cards they got face-down to try to make a five-card poker hand. Whether or not they can make a good hand will determine their future actions, as well as whether or not it's likely that they will have a good hand in the future. So after the flop, there's another round of betting, starting with the small blind and going around, with the same decisions offered to each player. They can check, which means to not do anything and simply pass the action to the next player, they can raise to put more money in the pot, or they can fold if they do not want to match a raise made by a prior player."

He took a card off the top of the deck, set it to the side, then took the next one and put it face-up on the plate. Jack of spades.

"After that, we get to what is called the turn. One more card is put face-up, giving each player a total of six cards they can use to try to make the best possible five-card hand. So this new card could have improved the hands of one or more players, changing the dynamic. We get another round of betting, and then we get one more card, called the river."

He set another card on the edge of the table, then placed a fifth card face-up. Jack of clubs.

"This is the last chance for the players to have their hand improve. We get one more round of betting. If, at any point during a round of betting, every player except one has folded, the hand is over, and the one player who hasn't folded gets the pot. However, if this final round of betting finishes and two or more players still have their cards, we get to showdown. All remaining players show their two cards, and whichever player made the best five-card hand wins the pot. The button is passed to the left, and the process begins all over again."

"How do you know if your hand is good?" Hikari asked.

"There's a system of ranking hand strength in poker," Takeru explained. "The weakest hand you can have is called a high-card hand, which rarely wins at showdown." He fanned the deck out in front of him, then pulled two cards from it. He put the ace of hearts and the five of hearts down on the table. "If this was your hand, you'd have nothing with this board. Your highest card is an ace, so you'd have what is called ace-high. Now technically, you have a pair of jacks, since there are two jacks on the board, but since they're on the board, everyone else has them too, so that's not really that valuable to you, so it's better to evaluate your hand as ace-high." He grabbed the ace and slipped it back into the deck, then put down the eight of hearts in it's place. "If this was your hand, you'd have king-high technically, but the king is on the board so everyone else can use that king too. So more practically, you have eight-high."

He took those two cards back into the deck, then put out a ten of spades and a nine of hearts.

"You could have a one pair hand, which means your five-card hand has two cards of the same value." He pointed at the jack of spades on the board. "Imagine that this card is a seven instead of a jack, here you'd have a pair of tens. Then you have two pair hands, meaning your five-card hand has two cards of the same value and another two cards of a different value. Since there's a pair of jacks on board, you actually have two pair here, nines and jacks. But everyone else has two jacks as well, so again, it's not as valuable as it would normally be."

He took the ten and nine back in the deck, then placed out a jack of hearts and six of clubs.

"Next is three of a kind, which is...exactly what it sounds like. If you had those two cards, you'd have the jack in your hand and the two jacks on the board for three jacks." Next, he tossed out the ace of diamonds and the queen of diamonds. "Now this is a little more complex. It's called a straight. It's when you have five cards that are in sequential order in terms of their value." He indicated the ten, jack, and king on the board, then at the queen and ace. "So here, you'd have ten, jack, queen, king, ace, five cards in sequential order, for a ten-to-ace straight."

The nine of clubs and the queen of clubs were next out of Takeru's hand. "Next up the list is called a flush. It's when you have five cards of the same suit. So we've got the queen and nine of clubs, and we have the king, jack, and three of clubs on the board, that makes a flush." In short order, Takeru put out the king of diamonds and king of spades. "Full houses are when you have three cards of one value and two cards of another value. With this, we'd have three kings and two jacks, so that's kings full of jacks." After vacuuming up all the various example hands he had put out, Takeru placed the jack of diamonds and the jack of hearts out next. "And then, quads, or four of a kind, where you have four of one card value. So here, four jacks."

He finally set the deck down on the plate, leaning back. "And the final hand, the best hand in poker, is called the straight flush. You might remember that one. It's when you have a straight that is also a flush. Five cards in sequential order that are all the same suit."

Slowly, Hikari reached into the side pocket of her shorts, right hand emerging holding a card. "Yeah." She dropped the card face-up on top of the deck, revealing it to be the queen of hearts.

Takeru gave a little chuckle, reaching inside of his jacket chest pocket, pulling out four cards. "That's right." He spread the four cards out on the table as well. Ten of hearts, jack of hearts, king of hearts, ace of hearts. "The best possible straight flush. Ten to the ace. Also called a royal flush."

"Well...I'm sure I'll understand it all better in a few days, sir," Hikari said. "Thank you so much for all this."

"Not at all," Takeru replied. "It'd be so mean if I made you watch people play poker for two months without explaining the game to you."

"But...I'm a little confused about one thing, it's...well, the cards that come out are all random, right?" She pointed down at the deck, spread out on the table. She grabbed the queen of hearts, putting it back in her pocket, as Takeru took his four parts of the royal flush back into his. "So...if it's all random, how do you...win?"

"The cards are random. The cards come down to luck." Takeru put his hands up behind his head. "And if you got into a card game with amateur players, yes, it would mostly come down to the cards. But the game is so much more than the cards. It's about the people. It's about psychology. It's about math. It's all these things getting put together. That's the game. That's how the top players stay at the top. They combine the mathematical, the psychological, and the cards to play at the highest level."

Hikari leaned forward, cupping her face in her hands, listening intently to Takeru.

"When I'm sitting at a poker table, the cards are just a tiny part of the equation that dictates the decisions that I make," he continued. "Every time the action is on me, and I have a decision to make, no matter how big or small, the equation is pumping." He pointed at his head. "It's the only way to make the best possible decisions. Even when I'm eating, or chatting, or whatever, I'm putting the pieces together to make the most profitable play."

He reached forward, grabbing a bottle of water and taking a quick drag from the mouth of it.

"My cards are A and B, the board is C, D, E, and F, and my opponent is G. G's actions so far this hand are H, I, and J, and his typical playstyle is K, and my history with him is L, so I'm putting him on a range of hands anywhere from M to N, with him bluffing with nothing O percent of the time. So P percent of the time he has a very strong hand, Q percent of the time he has a decent hand. The current pot is R. So if I make a bet of size S, I will get him to think T and take action U most of the time, but if I make a bet of size V, he'll think W take action X most of the time. Or I can check and get him to think Y, thus getting him to take action Z most of the time." Takeru nodded. "Every decision is fueled by that thought process."

"Well, when you put it like that...makes a lot of sense," Hikari said. "That's actually quite something, sir." She had to admit, the part of her that was dismissing all of this as a game for rich people who were bored was beginning to shrink. Well, perhaps that was still true, but there did seem to be more to it than she originally would have thought.

"It's not an easy game to play on the highest levels," Takeru continued. "I was lucky enough to learn from a professional, and I have a good mind for the game. I played nearly every day at academy, did very well there. Now I play in The Mecca frequently, and of course the game with all my friends, and I do very well there. But can I hack it with the best in the world?" He went over to one of the jet windows, looking out at the cloud beneath the jet sweeping by. "I'm gonna find out."

OOO

~Takeru~

"You're barely even going to spend any time in here, was it really necessary to get the deluxe suite?" Ken asked.

The collection of nine comrades were standing out on the large balcony, high above the active streets below, watching the sun set, leaning up against the wooden railing. Branson City was an incredibly active place year-round, but on the eve of the World Series, it was at it's very zenith. Every street was lined with headlights in both directions, cars inching along in gridlock. Every sidewalk had a flock of humans, bursting across the streets in droves at each intersection, only adding to the immense traffic. There were lights everywhere, everything glowing in neon. There were many who would reject such an environment, finding it nauseating.

To Takeru, it felt just like home. More than that, it felt like paradise. And observing it from the seventeenth floor of The Horseshoe Hotel and Casino, it was very, very familiar to him.

"I have to keep up my image," Takeru said. "I can't sully my family name. If people see that the Ishida kid is renting out a basic room, they'll all start asking questions about the state of the family's net worth, I'd never do that to my poor father." Takeru's hotel room was indeed the nicest that was offered in The Horseshoe, with the word 'room' not entirely doing it justice. It was a two-floor arrangement, the front door opening up to a giant main room, a subtle grey giving everything a sense of foreboding and intimidation on some subconscious level. Plush velvet furniture populated the main area, a projector capable of putting up a large screen on one of the walls. To the left was the kitchen and dining area, a chef's utopia, and to the right was a circular metal staircase that led up to three doors along a walkway. Two bedrooms and a bathroom. Far more than Takeru needed, but yet somehow still appropriate.

"If I knew your room was gonna be this big, I would have just crashed here instead of renting out my own room," Daisy said, turning to look through the glass doors, back into the room.

"I would have made you pay rent," Takeru said sarcastically. "Nothing's free in this city."

"I could have found a way to earn my keep," Daisy said, giving Takeru a small smirk.

"Well, enjoy how nice your room looks for tonight," Hido remarked, running his hands along the railing of the balcony. "Because from here on out, you're probably not gonna be able to do anything but stumble in here at two in the morning and collapse in your bed."

"The shower is really nice," Takeru replied. "I'll definitely see the inside of that plenty."

"Not if you run good to start," Sammy said. "If you run good to start, you can't take a shower, it'll screw with your luck."

"Yeah, that's brilliant," Takeru said. "Oh God, I'll bet I'm gonna end up sitting next to some schmuck who thinks things like that tomorrow. Some clown who's been wearing the same clothes for two weeks and refuses to shower."

"You know, I gotta say, it's a really weird feeling now that I've gotten used to the jets," Daryl said, eyes down towards the streets. "All those people, stuck in those gas-guzzlers, taking ten minutes to move one block...I've done it before! But now, I can't even imagine it. I can't even fathom a time before going everywhere by air."

"Five years from now, everyone'll be in the same boat as you," Akira said. "Ten years, tops. They've got that amazing technology working so smoothly now, they can't let people drive around in those things much longer."

The sound of a couple soft footsteps drew the attention of everyone back to the glass door. Hikari stepped through, carrying a tray with several glasses and a green bottle.

"Before we all retired to our rooms tonight, I thought we'd take a quick shot," Takeru said, pointing over at Hikari.

"Are you serious?" Hido said, lip curling downwards. "You brought her all the way out here just to try to get under my skin? I thought we were on the same side."

Hikari began to pour the bottle's contents into each small glass, carefully going through each one.

"We are, so long as we don't end up on the same table," Takeru replied. "And I didn't bring her with me to get under your skin. I needed someone to tuck me in at night and read me a bedtime story." He pointed at Hikari. "She's a phenomenal storyteller, you should know, she was yours for a few months."

Hido just scowled over at her back. "And look at what you have her wearing too, it's disgusting."

Takeru had arranged for Hikari to get a few casual outfits, befitting someone who was in the audience at the World Series. She was wearing a light blue tanktop and tan pencil skirt that stopped just above the knee, a far cry from the jumpsuits, or even rags, you would usually see slaves wearing.

"She's looks downright fashionable," Akira commented. "And yes, yes, I would know, I'm saying it so nobody else can say it."

"That's a great color combination," Daisy added. "Very pleasant to look at."

"Thank you, ma'am," Hikari replied, turning around with the tray in tow. She slowly took it around the balcony, each person grabbing one.

"If you're going to be with your slave out in public, why wouldn't you want them looking good?" Takeru asked, glancing over at Hido as he spoke. "Think about what something like that implies. I'm doing so well, I can make my slaves look good! I could just stick her in rags and nobody would say anything, but no, I'm giving her the latest fashions!"

"All these years, and you still don't get it," Hido mumbled, looking down at the glass of liquid. "You don't get the point of us being up there, and them being down there."

Takeru cleared his throat. "Uh, Ken, you were always the most...articulate, why don't you go ahead and say something?"

"Oh, well...alright." Ken took a couple of steps towards the railing, then turned around, so he had everyone in his cone of vision. "Well...friends, this is what it's all been for." He nodded. "When we were all twelve, our first year in academy, we all saw the poker craze happening with half the students. And we decided, we were going to be participants. So, we studied, we worked, we got good grades...and when that was over, we played. And all of that playing has led us to this, right here. Four eight tables, fifty dollar tournaments, one hundred dollar sit-and-goes, it seems almost silly to look back on those days now, but that's where this all started. After a few years, we were playing pot limit and no limit, buying in for five thousand dollars, thousand dollar tournaments, and we were able to do that because we were great. All of us. When we left academy, we were feared and respected, because we won. And all of it, all those hours, all those pots scooped, all those tournament cashes...it's all led to this." He pointed downwards. "We've played our way into a shot against the best players in the world, and all of our prior excellence has built to this." He held his glass up. "And we went through all of that together. We might find ourselves going against each other in the coming months, and so be it if it happens. But we support each other, through wins and losses, through good luck and bad luck. Because we were through all this together. Now, starting tomorrow, there's going to be several hundred million dollars in prize money floating around downstairs, and we've gotta be on our best if we want a piece of it. So, out of respect for those thousands of hours in academy, out of respect for the comrades who were there with you through it all...be on your best."

"Very nice," Miyako said. "On your best." Everyone raised their glass, then drained the contents into their mouths.

OOO

Hikari closed the front door of the hotel room after Yuma had cleared the threshold. "It's a really amazing group of friends you have, sir," she said, twisting the lock on the doorknob. "Despite my...feelings about one of them."

Takeru gave a small shrug and smiled at her. "Admittedly, I have my problems with the way Hido conducts himself in some regards. But I've known him since I started at academy, and despite it all, we're still friends."

"I understand," Hikari replied quickly.

"No, I understand," Takeru said. "Believe me, I understand." He looked up at the top of the left wall, a small digital clock projected onto the white painted surface. "Well, if there was ever a time to get to sleep a little early, it was tonight. Think it's about that time."

He began to pull his suit jacket off of his shoulders.

"...right."

Takeru raised an eyebrow, turning to look at Hikari, who suddenly looked a little sheepish.

"Oh, right," Takeru said, pointing up at the walkway above their heads. "You can pick whichever bedroom you want, doesn't matter to me."

Hikari gave a surprised little grunt, head popping upwards a fraction of an inch.

"Yeah, they're both basically the same, and I'm not using a bedroom anyway, so whichever you want, it's up to you." He went over to a chair on the right side of the room, placing the jacket along the backrest.

"You're...you're not sleeping in one of the beds?" Hikari asked slowly, scratching the side of her face. "Uh..."

"Nope." Takeru pointed over, towards the eastern wall of the large room, at a large, pod-looking device up against it, with a cover made of glass. "I'll be sleeping in that thing."

Hikari leaned over to look at the piece of equipment. "O-oh. I thought it was a piece of decoration," she said, a little sheepishly.

"It's called an oxygen bed," Takeru explained, unbuttoning his waistcoat and throwing it on top of the jacket. "You get in it, you seal it, and it pumps in a mix of oxygen that's more concentrated, so you're breathing that in while you're asleep. It helps maximize your bodies' recuperation process, so you get more out of your sleep. Something like, five hours in there is like eight hours in a normal bed."

"W-wow," Hikari said, nodding quickly. "O-okay, I see, that's...that's really cool, sir!"

After removing his undershirt and placing it on the chair, Takeru went over to the oxygen bed. He pushed the glass panel covering the upper portion over, letting the curved piece rotate to the side, exposing the bed inside. "Getting the most out of my sleep is very important right now, so I figured it was a good investment. Had it delivered here before we got here."

"So...so that's all?" Hikari asked, watching as Takeru slipped his body into the opening between the bed and the curved glass. "I...that's all you need, sir?"

"I think so," Takeru replied, reaching over to grab the edge of the glass door, pulling it back over him so that the pod would be enclosed. "Have a good night!" he said loudly.

As Hikari scampered over towards the staircase, Takeru reached down and began to remove his pants. For the briefest of moments, he thought about Hikari's recent range of reactions. She seemed a little ill-at-ease about something, and that something seemed to have disappeared very fast. It occurred to him that it seemed to be something a little more than just not knowing where she would be sleeping.

But tonight was the last night for him to be occupied with irrelevant thoughts. He reached up above his head and flipped a small switch. A few beeps later, he could feel the chamber he was inside begin to pressurize. He winced, having to fight extra hard to pull down air into his lungs, as the special mix being flooded into the chamber was noticably different and noticably harder to inhale.

The first few minutes would be hard, as his body adjusted to the air, but he knew that it was a quickly passing phase, and in short order he'd be breathing in the specialized air without issue. Soon, he'd be asleep, ready to wake up early in peak mental and physical condition.

OOO

"Ladies. Gentlemen."

The night had come. The night had gone.

"Welcome to the fifty-eighth annual World Series of Poker."

He had felt so good after waking up, he got up an hour early than he planned to work out, doing some simple work down on the ninth floor gym with a punching bag.

"Hosted, once again, by the good folks at The Horseshoe, Mister Cole Gellar and his sons. This is the greatest show on earth, with the greatest players on earth, and it's an honor and a privilege to have so many people here."

Nerves were supressed by the workout, as the physical exertion helped get his mind right, but were not completely erased. He had managed to get down a small breakfast, stopping when he began to feel like his toast was a piece of carpet he was trying to chew on.

"As has been the case for many years, we open the World Series of Poker with the One Thousand Dollar No Limit Hold'em event. This year, we have nearly two thousand entrants, and a prize pool of just under one million eight hundred thousand dollars."

The Horseshoe's bottom eight floors had been virtually cleared out of everything except poker tables. Event halls, restaurant seating, waiting areas, everything had been pushed aside to make room for tables and chairs. When Takeru's elevator had reached the second floor and the doors opened, he was sure he had died and gone to some kind of poker player valhalla. Tables as far as the eye could see, players and spectators alike mingling around in the spaces between.

"Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone of a very special consideration this year. As was announced a few months ago, this year's World Series of Poker is dedicated to the memory of a very special individual, Zachary Fischer. There are few individuals in poker history more important, or more memorable, than Zachary Fischer, and he remains a true icon of the World Series of Poker. As I'm sure everyone here knows, Fischer passed away four months ago, and the tournament board of directors quickly moved to dedicate this year's series to him."

Takeru had wandered around for a bit, somewhat starstruck by everything despite his lifetime around such scenes. This was different than the poker room in The Mecca, by a longshot. This was one-of-a-kind. He saw many famous faces around, some of the players he watched growing up, some of the players he watched today. Champion players, multi-millionaire players, all kinds of greats. Phillip Helm, Barry Lewis, Johnathan Fletcher, and so many more. And he was now among their peers, playing in this tournament. Finally, he had found his seat. Table eighty-two, seat five, a pile of chips already set up.

"I can't possibly describe Fischer's impact on this game without taking up half the day, so I won't try. However, before we begin, I'd like to pass the microphone to a man who knew him better than most. A man who played with Fischer thirty years ago. A man who came in second to Fischer thirty-three years ago in the Main Event. A man who grew to know all the different sides to Fischer, not just the one at the felt. So, before we get these cards in the air, I know you're all very anxious, I'm going to have the immortal Don Brown say a few things. He's a ten-time World Series champion, he's The Godfather of Poker, and he has a few things to say."

He waited at his table, Hikari seated on a small stool at the railing that circled the table right behind him, hopefully ready to pass on her good luck. He still wasn't sure if he believed it, but he already felt very lucky. Sitting here in this room, about to play in this tournament. A flood of large screens popped to live on several walls all around the room after a moment, exposing everyone to the sight of Tournament Director Jack Custer, the man in charge of the entire operation, giving his introductory speech from behind a wooden podium. And then, just to add to the magic of the moment, Custer was shown giving way on the podium to an old, wrinkled man in a large cowboy hat. The Godfather of Poker himself.

Don Brown had played in the first ever World Series of Poker, fifty-eight years ago. He was one of the best. His legend included winning the main event in back-to-back years, and winning eight other bracelets as the years went by. Somehow, while his contemporaries fell to the wayside and lost their touch, Brown remained, still competing at the highest level, still winning, still being one of the biggest names in poker. Truly, he had earned his nickname.

"Thank you." His voice was gruff, but still strong. "You know, Zachary...those of us who were there when he was at his best, thirty plus years ago, we all know. Zach was the greatest card player who ever lived, and I doubt there will ever be anyone like him. He was an absolute genius with a photographic memory. He would learn the rules to a card game that he had never seen before, and after two days, he'd be better than people who had been playing it for thirty years. The things I saw him do in card games, I've never seen anything like it. He was one of a kind. Zach will never get the full amount of respect he deserves for what he did at the felt, and I really just think that's too bad."

Takeru swallowed down a lump in his throat. This story had a way of soothing him, as it was somewhat divorced from the challenge in front of him, but then again it also made him think about the caliber of player he was now following in the footsteps of.

"Thirty-three years ago, Fischer was just a twenty-three year old kid, and he showed up here, and every other player was an old man. He didn't care. He won three bracelets that year, which is still tied for the record for most bracelets won in a year, but what people forget is we only had seven events that year!" He gave a grin and a laugh. "He ran all of us over, never been anything like it before. He saved me for last, took me down in the main event, and he was champ. Next year, came back, won two more bracelets, and won the main event again!" He spread his hands to his sides. "This man could have won multiple bracelets a year, every year, for the rest of his life. You take him and put him in the modern day structure, he might win ten a year." He gave a small grimace. "Of course...Zachary had the card playing part of his life down...it was all the other stuff in life that he had problems with." He paused for a second. "I'm just glad that he was able to get well enough to play in the main event last year, and after thirty years away from the world series, he won that one too. And if that doesn't tell you how good the man was, then nothing will. I'm glad he won last year, because now even the young kids these days got a chance to see how good he was. I mean, we've got sixty events a year these days, and it's considered a minor miracle if somebody wins two. This guy competed in fifteen events in his life, and won six."

Takeru leaned back in his chair, putting his hands up on the edge of the table. Of course, thirty years ago, world series events only had a few dozen participants, a hundred at most, whereas the modern day tournaments had several hundred, if not several thousand. But who needed to be a stickler for details during a romantic recollection of an all-time great?

"So I'm glad he won that last one, and I hoped it'd help him turn his life around, but...well, you all know how that story ended." He sighed. "But I've gone on too long anyway, and if I know anything about Zachary, he'd want me to shut up and let the cards get in the air." He smiled again, a large, toothy grin. "So, let's remember Zachary Fischer...and let's shuffle up and deal." 


	9. Waking Up With Aces

Chapter 9: Waking Up With Aces

"And we're underway here at the World Series of Poker, it's seven o'clock in the morning here on this lovely day, and the cards are getting in the air."

The dealer, a bald man with pale skin, wearing an all-black uniform, began tossing out the cards.

"We're bringing you coverage of table number eighty-two, we've got two-hundred and nineteen tables to start the action today. Kind of amazing, really. Forty years ago at the world series, we only had one table receive television coverage. Fifteen years ago, only five tables had cameras on them at a time. Today, every table has cameras on it."

The dealer motioned to seat number three, who promptly peeked at his two cards and flipped them back over to the dealer.

"And every table has at least two announcers covering it, just amazing. I'm Richard Green, working with Howard Cantu, we're both volunteers from the PokerHub community, very excited to get the chance to call the action here."

With two folds in the books, Takeru looked down at his two cards.

"Obviously, you're watching our coverage on an hour delay, allowing us to show our viewers the player's hole cards without fear of giving anyone information that could be used by an active player. And looks like we're going to see our first opening of a pot here, Takeru Ishida looking down at two jacks."

"Right, Richard, he's in early position here, good time to establish yourself as the aggressor with the two black jacks."

After careful consideration, Takeru took a white chip and a green chip from the pile in front of him, tossing them over the yellow line. Quickly, the player to his left folded, as a small graphic went up on the left side of the screen, a small box with 'Takeru Ishida' next to the jack of spades and jack of clubs.

"Takeru raises it to thirty. Every player starts with a thousand chips, and the blinds start at five and ten. White chips are worth five, green chips are worth twenty-five, and black chips are worth a hundred. When a player loses all their chips, they are out of the tournament, with no possibility of rebuying. This year, the top two hundred finishers will finish in the money."

"Very standard raise size from Takeru, three times the big blind, gets the next two players to fold their junk."

"You know, Howard, this thousand dollar no limit holdem event is really great, it's a great way to start off the world series. Some people consider it like a miniature version of the main event. You're playing the same game, the same format, but it goes quicker and the buyin is only a thousand dollars!"

Seat number eight took a look down, ducking his head low and barely prying up the corners of his cards, careful to not expose them to anyone else.

"Yeah Richard, it's a great little tournament, a great opportunity for amateur players to try their hand at a major tournament without risking too much money. We've got Johnathan Hankins in the cutoff here, looks like he's gonna enter this pot. King queen, both diamonds."

Hankins quickly put out a white and green chip, earning himself a spot in the hand.

"Very strong drawing hand there, lot of ways to make a good hand. Is there an argument for raising here, you think?"

"No, I don't. If you raise, you run the risk of Takeru raising when it gets back to him, and if that happens, you're almost compelled to fold. And you don't want to fold a hand as strong as king queen suited, you want to at least see the flop."

"Now to the button, Vlad Urbanovich, strongly considering his two cards. Ace seven offsuit, ace of diamonds and seven of spades."

Urbanovich grabbed a few of his chips, cutting and shuffling them around.

"And, yeah, I don't like this. Uh, obviously, he's in position, and he has an ace, which is always attractive, but it's a weak ace, you're not even suited, and you've got two players involved. It's just one of those situations where you're the only one with an ace, or someone has a better ace. If you're the only one with an ace, and an ace hits the flop, then it's hard to get any money out of the other players. If someone has a bigger ace, and an ace hits the flop, you could get in a ton of trouble."

Nevertheless, after a couple seconds, Urbanovich pushed two chips in.

"Well, he's gonna play it. He's getting a decent price, in all fairness, but I just think you're either supposed to fold, or raise to try to and take the pot now if you think your opponents are weak."

"Both blinds fold, and we've got three to the flop with one hundred and five chips already in the middle."

The dealer gathered the multi-colored chips into a pile in front of him.

"Here's a great example of why pocket jacks is such a hard hand to play. Takeru has the best hand right now, but any overcard that hits the flop, queen, king, or ace, will give one of his opponents a better hand!"

"Yeah, he's just got to know to get away from the hand if the flop has an overcard...and it will have one of those about fifty percent of the time—"

The dealer placed a card to the side, face down, then took the next three and placed them out in the center. Jack of diamonds, seven of clubs, seven of diamonds.

"Oh. My God. Richard, we have ourselves an action flop."

"Wow! King-high flush draw for Hankins, trip sevens for Urbanovich, but Takeru has flopped a full house, jacks full of sevens!"

The dealer indicated to Takeru that the action was on him, and Takeru looked down at the three cards, cutting out a stack of chips and shuffling them.

"First hand of the day for this table, and we've got some serious action. Takeru's first to act."

Takeru took two green chips and two white chips, firing them towards the middle.

"And, you know, Howard, most people wouldn't bet in that spot. Monster hand, you've got the board crushed, most players would check and hope someone else leads. But I actually like this a lot, and it's going to work out really well for him."

"It looks like a very standard continuation bet, and I think that's what Takeru is hoping it looks like. A continuation bet is when a player who raised before the flop raises again after the flop, the idea is you're continuing to be the aggressor."

Hankins crossed his arms over each other on the edge of the table felt, pondering his move.

"But a lot of players will continuation bet no matter what. They plan to bet without even knowing what the cards are, and bet even if they didn't make a good hand. The idea is, even if you miss the flop, if your opponents missed too, you can get them to just fold and take the pot anyway by being the aggressor. A lot of times, players aren't going to necessarily believe a continuation bet means anything, and will call or raise. And that's what Takeru is counting on here. Of course, it's irrelevant, because both of his opponents have flopped huge hands."

Hankins took a black chip and a green chip from his pile, tossing them in.

"And that raise is music to Takeru's ears, he loves that. He bet sixty, Hankins has now pushed it to one twenty-five."

"I don't really like this raise from Hankins. He's got the flush draw, but it's not the nut flush, since he doesn't have the ace of diamonds, and the board is already paired. I think calling would have been just fine there, overplaying it a little bit."

Urbanovich, with little hesitation, tossed a black chip and green chip in.

"Urbanovich calls with his trip sevens. He could have tossed in a raise there, the only hand he's crushed by right now is pocket jacks, which just so happens to be the hand Takeru is holding. But it's so early in the tournament, it can be scary to play massive pots and put your tournament life at risk."

"And now, we're back to Takeru, and he's got two options. You've got the biggest hammer, you're a huge favorite to win the hand, what do you do?"

"Well, if he calls here, it's an overcall. A player raised, another player called the raise, so Takeru calling now would be what is known as an overcall, which generally looks very strong. Of course, raising also looks very strong, with a raiser and caller behind you. So it's hard to disguise the strength of your hand at this point."

Takeru, taking a few seconds, slipped his left hand out and took the four chips he had placed out back into his pile, then put out a black and green chip.

"Yeah, he's just gonna call here. I think his hope is that it looks like he has an overpair, aces kings or queens, or maybe like he has one jack in his hand. Like, he has a good hand that he's not ready to fold yet, but he's now concerned he's beat, and he wants to slow down and try to control the pot size. It might get him paid off later."

"Four-eighty in the pot," the dealer announced, pounding the table a couple times lightly with his fist.

"That's...uh, Jake Billings, our dealer for the time being, putting out the turn card."

After burning a card to the side, Jake put up the four of diamonds.

"Oooh, that is an unfortunate card for Hankins. He's made his flush, but he's still losing to Takeru's full house, and is actually now drawing dead, could be very expensive for Hankins."

Takeru tapped the table with his fingers a few times.

"Takeru checks. He's hoping that someone else bets now, and I think he might get that. He can continue to tell the story that he just has two pair."

Hankins followed up a few seconds later by tapping the table a couple times as well, passing the action over.

"And...well that's actually real surprising, Hankins checking the turn after making his flush. Don't really understand that."

"I mean, the board is already paired, someone could have the ace of diamonds in their hand, and actually Urbanovich does...seems like you have a lot to protect against, feels like a situation where you almost have to bet. Obviously, you'd like to try disguising your flush, but from his perspective letting a free card come off seems like a mistake."

Urbanovich didn't take long to also rap his knuckles on the felt.

"Urbanovich would love to take a free card here, he's now got a draw to the ace-high flush with three diamonds on board. But there's only one card left in the entire deck that can actually save him here, the seven of hearts."

"And to the viewers, when I say that Hankins made a mistake by not betting there, I'm talking purely from his perspective. Obviously, not betting there was actually very good for him, since he's guaranteed to lose this hand, but we know that because we can see everyone's cards. From his perspective, he could easily have the best hand, and letting a free river come off could spoil that."

Jake, once again, burned a card to the side before flipping up the final board card. The ace of spades.

"River card is an ace, and it almost feels like Takeru called ahead for these cards. Urbanovich has now made a full house, but it's losing to Takeru's bigger full house all the same! How can Urbanovich NOT think he has the best hand here?"

"Yeah, Urbanovich might have just been able to fold if the river was a blank, but that's probably the worst card in the deck for him. This could get expensive."

Takeru again took only a couple seconds before tapping the table.

"Takeru checks again! Very courageous move by him, he risks getting no value out of his jacks full of sevens on the river!"

"He's correctly guessed that at least one of his opponents has a big hand and will have to put in a value bet here. He can raise when it gets back to him, and get more chips than he otherwise would have."

Hankins, with little hesitation, reached over and took two black chips. He tossed them over the yellow line.

"Hankins bets two hundred on his flush, which is now the worst hand of the three players. But he probably feels like it's the best after it checked around on the turn. You'd also figure that if Takeru had pocket aces and had rivered aces full, he would have bet for sure, so I think he's still telling a reasonable story that he has a hand like pocket kings or pocket queens, maybe ace jack."

"Urbanovich is definitely raising here, and Takeru could definitely come back over the top. We could see a player get eliminated on their first hand!"

Urbanovich, with cautious consideration of his chipstack and the cards, began to collect up some of his black ones.

"Yeah, I just don't see Urbanovich getting away from this. If he gets out of this hand with so much as a single chip in front of him, I think it's an achievement."

Urbanovich released a small stack of chips over the yellow line.

"Alright. Urbanovich has raised it to four hundred. That's nearly eleven-hundred in the pot now, Takeru has eight hundred forty-five behind...going all-in would be reasonable. Is there any reason to not just shove?"

"Not unless you're actually afraid someone has pocket aces or pocket sevens. And I just don't think you can play poker like that. A bit of concern is always good, of course, but when you get a monster hand, you can't play scared just because it's possible someone has a better monster. Very unlikely someone has aces, even more unlikely someone has sevens."

"Seven hundred," Takeru said.

"Well, he's decided to refrain from emptying the clip here, he's left himself one forty-five behind."

"Yeah, I think he's done that so it's easier to get called. Now, Hankins is pretty clearly disgusted here, but he absolutely has to fold. There's just no way he's good with two people raising in front of him."

Hankins wrinkled his nose, grimacing. His head twisted about, looking at both of his opponents in turn.

"He's really wishing he just checked the river now. Would have been easier to move in or it would have been a cheaper fold. But when he gets raised AND re-raised...his hand just can't be any good."

Finally, Hankins took his two cards, took one last look at them, and tossed them over in front of the dealer.

"Good fold by Hankins. Had to be done, but it's hard to fold a hand that strong after committing over thirty percent of your stack to it."

Urbanovich swallowed down hard, reaching up to rub the bridge of his nose, staring down Takeru, who was as still as a statue in his seat. He cut out a stack of black chips and began shuffling them in his right hand.

"And can Urbanovich make an even tougher fold? He's got sevens full of aces, and he's getting a phenomenal price, just needs to put in another three hundred to make the call. But can he sniff this out?"

"I think he's just starting to realize that he's been had. Takeru wouldn't do this without a full house, and the way this hand played out, it would make sense if he had jacks or aces in the hole."

Urbanovich continued to stare down at the community cards, reaching up to push a bit of sweat-covered hair from his forehead.

"Part of the problem is that, this Takeru Ishida, he's a twenty-year-old. He's never played in an official poker tournament before. So here, his status as a newcomer helps confuse opponents, because they don't know how he plays. If there was some kind of known history of Takeru's play, maybe Urbanovich could piece this together a little easier, but you just don't know how aggressive a player this guy is."

Urbanovich sighed, lips vibrating as he blew the burst of air out of his mouth.

"This table's full of young unknowns, actually. Only Lindsay Peet in seat two is a known professional player, and only Jose Rivera in seat nine is over forty. Definitely makes it harder to play the tendencies of your opponent when you don't know their tendencies."

"Another thing to think about here. It's just sort of embarrassing to get eliminated on the first hand of a major tournament, even though logically it's no different than getting eliminated in any other position that doesn't cash. Takeru choosing not to move all-in might help Urbanovich find a call here. To me, there shouldn't be any difference, since being left with less than a hundred and fifty chips this early in the tournament is almost as bad as being out entirely. But some players, not being the guy who lasted one hand counts for a lot."

"I call," Urbanovich finally said. Immediately, Takeru flipped up his two jacks. "Ah crap."

Meekly, he took his two cards and turned them over, revealing his lesser full house.

"Couldn't get away from it, can't say I blame him."

"I knew you had a seven," Takeru said, leaning forward to look at the cards that he had exposed. "Was just hoping it was seven ace."

"Well, last tournament I played in, I got eliminated when I called an all-in with one pair. At least this time I had a decent hand." Urbanovich shook his head. "Pretty brutal."

"You're not eliminated yet," Takeru said, a bit of a smile on his face as Jake sent the pot over his direction. "Old saying, a chip and a chair is all you need, right?"

"I guess," Urbanovich replied, voice layered in a deep eastern accent. "I think I get away from it if you put me all-in, but you...ah, probably not."

"And...we have an early chip leader! Takeru Ishida, after one hand, scoops a pot with over two thousand chips, and he's up to two thousand two hundred twenty-five."

"More than doubling up on the very first hand of action, has to feel great about that. He might have missed out on some value on the turn and river, but it's hard to complain about that one."

"Is this your first tournament?" Lindsay Peet asked, leaning over to look at Takeru as he took in the mound of chips and began stacking them.

"First official tournament, yeah. I turned twenty a few months ago," Takeru answered.

"Easy game when you flop a house," Lindsay said, watching as Jake took in the cards and began scrambling them around.

"Yeah. Do that a few more times, I might just have half a chance at this thing," Takeru said.

"Takeru conversing with his table mates after that big hand. They're all gonna have to be wary of him now, he's picked up over two hundred and twenty big blinds."

OOO

"Just take these right over there." Takeru pointed over towards a couple of booths set up past a couple tables, up against a wall. "Those booths, just give them these, and get whatever you want."

"T-thank you, sir, but I've...I wouldn't know what to get," Hikari replied, nervously holding a small pile of green bills in her hand, glancing around furtively.

"Just look at them, pick whatever you think looks good. Whatever you want, go for it!" Takeru nodded. "Most of it is pretty mild, they've got like...popcorn, that stuff goes down easy, everyone likes popcorn. I'm sure they've got some chocolate over there."

"I've...I've never had chocolate before, sir," Hikari said, a bit meekly.

"Oh, that's horrible, you gotta do something about that," Takeru said. "Anything you want, right over there, whenever you feel like it." He looked back over at his table. "Okay, I gotta play my button, enjoy!"

"That's Takeru Ishida, talking to...not sure who that is, he's coming back to the table now."

Takeru quickly jumped back into his seat as the cards began to be dealt out.

"Actually, while we don't know much about him as a poker player, it says here that Takeru is the son of Hiroaki Ishida, the chairman of The Mecca, one of the biggest casinos in the world."

"Makes sense. When your father works in a place like that, you might grow up to be proficient at poker. I've been to The Mecca many times in my life, beautiful place."

"Alright, we've got a quick flurry of folds here, over to...alright, Tobias Harris in the cutoff, one seat to the right of the button, looking down at jack ten, both hearts. He'll probably play this."

Harris snatched up two of his green chips and put them across the yellow line.

"Bumps it up to fifty. Blinds have jumped once, up to ten and twenty, so it's two and half times the big blind. And Takeru's here on the button, he's looking down at...nine two offsuit."

Takeru looked down at his cards for a moment, then placed them down in front of him.

"Well, you'd figure he would have folded immediately, but he's looking like he's considering making a move here."

"Yeah, he's got one of the worst starting hands in Holdem, we're less than an hour into this tournament, seems like a snap fold. Maybe he senses weakness."

Finally, Takeru's long fingers grabbed at a black chip and a green chips, tossing them in.

"Takeru three-bets it to one twenty-five!"

"We'll see how this works out for him. He's trying to use his big stack to scare everyone else out of the pot."

"Both blinds fold, so it looks like it might work. Takeru has the chip lead and for this hand he'll be in position, so it's intimidating to get involved in a pot with him unless you have an absolute monster. And Tobias, he has a very interesting hand, definitely a hand you'd always want to play in poker, but his hand doesn't have any value unless he flops well, so this is actually a hard call for him to make."

Harris, the action back to him, put his elbow on the table and placed his hand on his cheek, leaning up against it, shuffling a couple chips around.

"Takeru is on the button here, which means he has position in this hand. Basically, he gets to act last on every betting round, which is a very powerful weapon in poker, because you get to see what your opponent does first. Good players know how to use position to take control of a hand. Even with an interesting hand, Tobias might not want to risk playing a bloated pot out of position against the chip leader."

Finally, Tobias put out his hand, took back one of the green chips, and replaced it with a black one.

"Alright, Tobias decides to make the call. Two eighty in the pot, jack ten suited against nine deuce offsuit."

The dealer put out the flop, revealing a three of clubs, four of diamonds, and ten of spades.

"Ten-high flop gives Tobias a pair of tens. Nothing there for Takeru."

Immediately, Tobias tapped the table a few times.

"Tobias checks top pair."

"Yeah, nothing going for Takeru, but Takeru wasn't playing this hand with the intention of making a good hand. He's here to try to steal this pot, the cards don't really matter to him."

After a few seconds, Takeru took a black chip and two green chips, putting them across the yellow line.

"Standard continuation bet of one fifty, and he's definitely getting called."

"Right. His hope was that Tobias would completely miss the flop, and this c-bet would just end the hand. But Tobias can't flop top pair and fold to one bet. But I'll say this, I doubt Tobias is loving life right now. It's easy to imagine Takeru having a hand like queens or kings or even aces, and if that's the case, his pair of tens is well behind."

Tobias, with little pause, put out the same three chips, matching the wager from Takeru.

"Takeru can't like that. You know, I think a lot of players...especially the younger, inexperienced players wouldn't try to make a play like this, this early in the tournament. A lot of times, when a player makes a huge score, like Takeru did at the beginning, they'd tighten up, fold a lot, only play extremely good hands, and get very defensive."

With the burn card out, a deuce of hearts was placed out on the board.

"Two of hearts on the turn, gives Takeru a pair of twos, still trailing Tobias. And Tobias quickly checks, not wanting to overstuff the pot with such a marginal hand."

With Tobias passing the action over, Takeru considered things for several seconds, then checked as well, tapping the table a few times.

"And Takeru checks behind, possibly giving up on this hand."

"Takeru figures that Tobias has a ten in his hand, and he doesn't think he's ever getting him to fold a ten, so he's just gonna let this one go."

The river card was quick to follow Takeru's check. The ace of diamonds.

"And...well, perhaps not, this might be a good card for Takeru to use as a bluff."

"Yes, now it's going to be a lot easier for Tobias to fold a ten, so this is an opportunity for Takeru to make a move."

Tobias checked again, tapping his fist on the felt.

"There's also an ace, two, three and four out on the board, so if Takeru had a five in his hand he's made a straight. Not a very safe board for a naked pair of tens."

Takeru pondered his options for several long seconds, looking at the ace that had just popped from the deck.

"To your earlier point, Richard, about playing tight in a tournament when you win a big hand, I think that's a huge mistake that some players make. Having the chip lead in a tournament is only good if you use that chip lead. And in a tournament like this, where the blinds increase every half hour, your chip pile has a tendency to melt away quickly if you stop playing. When you have a lot of chips, players are going to fear you, and you should use that. Takeru entered this hand with...just a shade over two thousand chips, which is great, but in a few minutes here, someone in this room is gonna get to four thousand, and then give it a half hour, it'll be seven thousand, and then what did it all mean? This is a fast tournament, you have to play aggressively to stay on top."

"Three hundred," Takeru said, putting out two black chips.

"Yup, there he goes! Makes a three hundred chip bet into a pot of five hundred eighty, he's going for it!"

"Now, I'm not saying I'm in love with Takeru choosing to take this line on this hand, mainly because his starting hand was so bad, he didn't give himself much equity, just in case. But we'll see if this bluff works out for him."

"From Tobias's perspective, it looks a lot like Takeru has a hand like ace king. He three bet preflop, he c-bet the flop, seemed to give up on the turn, then spiked an ace on the river and is now value betting it."

"Yeah, there are two kinds of bluffs in poker. Sometimes you bluff because you don't have a good hand and you're just desperately trying to win the pot, sometimes you bluff because the logic of the hand and the texture of the community cards makes a bluff likely to work. You want your bluffs to be the second kind, and this is the second kind. That ace is a very scary card for Tobias's hand."

Tobias sighed, grimacing, seconds ticking away as he gave the decision a tremendous amount of thought.

"Another thing to consider. If Tobias calls and wins, Takeru will still have close to fifteen hundred chips, an above-average stack at this moment, so he can afford to lose this. If Tobias calls and loses, he's down to less than four hundred chips, so he'd be in trouble."

Finally, after nearly a minute, Tobias picked up his two cards and threw them over to the dealer.

"And Tobias throws away the best hand! Takeru's river bluff worked, and he's up to nearly twenty-five hundred!"

Tobias could only grimace as Takeru threw his cards back over to the dealer without exposing him, then received the small bundle of chips.

"You should have shown the bluff, it's good for television," Hankins said, pointing over at the two cards Takeru had tossed to the dealer.

"I don't have a bluff to show," Takeru replied, stacking the multi-colored discs.

"Takeru playing games with everyone else at the table. He was definitely bluffing, doesn't want the other players to know."

"The first hand of the day, Takeru got blessed by the deck, but that right there was just some skilled play from the twenty-year-old. He maintains his spot atop the chip count list!"

OOO

~Takeru~

"Good call, man, I got nothing." Jose slowly flipped over his two cards, showing a king of diamonds and ten of spades. "King high."

"You're drawing live," Takeru replied, turning over an eight of hearts and seven of hearts. "I got a pair of eights."

"Oh, wow! That's a great call." Jose leaned back in his seat, wiping off his forehead. "I thought I could get you to fold a hand like that. Nice call."

Takeru looked down at the board. Three of spades, five of clubs, eight of diamonds, jack of diamonds. "Alright, you've got six outs."

"Why the hell did I try to bluff the guy who has all the chips?" Jose lamented to himself. "What the hell am I doing? My wife was right, should have just spent the thousand on lobster dinners."

The dealer pounded the table lightly a couple times, set a card to the side, and put out the ace of spades, completing the board.

Takeru gave a quick nod, and Jose stood up.

"Well, I lasted about six hours, I can live with that." He turned his head around, looking behind him. "Bet I outlasted half the field." He walked over to Takeru, who remained seated. "Good call man. You win this tournament now, it makes me look better."

He put his hand out towards Takeru, who took it and gave it a quick shake. "Good hand, buddy."

"I don't know if I could have made that call," Lindsay said, watching the pile of chips go over to Takeru.

"I can afford it," Takeru said. "On that board, there's really not very much he can have that he'd be doing that for value with. And you gotta chip up in this tournament fast."

"Wow," Lindsay said, giving Takeru a little nod. "Hand reading, board texture, you know your way around these tables. First official tournament? I'm impressed."

A tall man in a blue blazer went up to the table, holding a handful of palm-sized black squares.

"Alright folks, we're gonna go on table break for fifteen minutes, if you're not in your new seat in fifteen, your hands will be automatically folded and you will be on the hook for your antes and blinds. Blinds will be two hundred and four hundred, and we will be introducing an ante of fifty." The man tossed out five black squares onto the felt. "Each of you take one, it has your new table number and seat number. Good luck at your new tables, congratulations on making it to level fourteen of this tournament."

Takeru got up, taking one of the little squares, flipping it up. Table thirty-five, seat seven. "Alright, beautiful!" With enthusiasm, he grabbed one of the clear, empty chip racks and began loading his stacks of chips into the rows.

In short order, he had loaded up with his haul, turning around and going out to the rail to Hikari. "Well, so far, this little luck thing is working out alright!" He held up his racks of chips.

"You're...you're doing really well, sir," Hikari said. She was holding a small paper bowl in her left hand, half-filled with chocolate ice cream, a pink spoon in her right.

"Hey, you uh...you liking that?" Takeru asked, pointing down at the bowl.

"I...I actually really like it, sir," Hikari said, a bit of a bashful laugh in her voice.

"Hey, you can have as many as you want. Just...after the third or fourth one, most people get a little sick, be careful." Takeru high-stepped over the railing. "Nothing like six straight hours at a poker table, let's take a walk, I've got a bit of time."

"So is there another Ishida in this tournament, or is there some kind of misprint?"

Takeru looked over to his left to see Sammy approaching, a pair of polarized sunglasses on his face.

"Hey man, what's up? You on table break?" Takeru reached his free right hand out towards Sammy, making a fist. Sammy bumped his own fist up against Takeru's knuckles.

"Ah, no...just got felted, actually." He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder.

"Aw, you're kidding me," Takeru said.

"Hey, it's like we were all saying earlier, you've got to chip up fast, got to play fast." Sammy shrugged. "I had kings, got it all in against ace king, she hit an ace on the turn."

"And you didn't hit the one-outer on the river?" Takeru said dryly. "Come on, you could have done it, you just didn't try hard enough!"

"But enough about me, did my eyes deceive me, or are you third in chips?" Sammy pointed at Takeru's pair of chip racks, loaded with lavender, blue, black, and purple discs made of clay. "You're up on the leaderboard, I walked by it on the way here."

"Third?" Takeru looked down at his racks. "Seems right, I've got about...eight thousand four hundred." He began walking away from the table.

"Man, this tournament is shallow," Sammy mused. "You're third in chips and you've still only got twenty-one big blinds." He and Hikari took up a pace along with Takeru. "Well, anyway, I'm out, so I thought I'd come over here and watch my friend play big stack bully."

"Yeah, it's the first tournament of the world series, they like a big tournament that moves quickly to lead things off," Takeru said. "My table just broke up, I've got a few minutes before I need to sit down again, let's have a look around real quick."

The trio began weaving through the globs of people surrounding tables, masses of bustling humanity, watching cards get turned up and chips being put at risk.

"We're down to eight hundred players," Sammy said, speaking loudly over the buzz of general conversation. "Sixty percent of the players out after six hours, this tournament's nuts."

"Six hundred players away from the money," Takeru said. "Can't slow down, we've got an ante now."

"I drew a table with Julius Wade," Sammy said, craning his neck to look over a crowd of people at one of the tables. "Very intimidating, I just got out of the way whenever he was involved. Proud I actually managed to chip up before that table broke."

"I think I got lucky with my table draw," Takeru replied. "Mostly really young players, just one professional, it was Peet. We kept getting new players added, no big names."

"Well, bully for you," Sammy groused. Suddenly, he stopped, head twisting to the left. "Hey, check it out!"

Takeru halted mid-step, turning to see one of the crowds, a very familiar face having suddenly emerged through the cracks between spectator's heads.

"Oh, hello." Takeru quickly sidestepped from the pathway between tables, cramming himself up near the rail. "Oi, Daisy, don't tell me you just got felted too!"

The gorgeous blonde turned to look at her friend. "No, but ask again in about thirty seconds."

Sammy and Hikari came up next to Takeru on the rail, all of them leaning in to try to see what was happening on the table. Daisy, who had just risen to her feet, quickly took the handful of steps over. Her red dress, showing a fair amount of cleavage and stopping at mid-thigh, was very eye-catching, and stood out among a table of people dressed far more casually. Her black, strappy heels completed a look you didn't always see at a poker table.

"I'm at risk," Daisy said, putting her hands up in front of her mouth, steepling her fingers. "This could be it."

A small holographic projector popped up about ten feet in the air above the table. Daisy Scott's name was shown above ace king, both spades, with the name of Jerry Blatt showing up next to her's, above the queen of hearts and the ten of diamonds. Beneath all of this, a line of three cards was shown. Nine of spades, five of spades, queen of clubs. The graphic was completed with numbers above each name, Daisy's showcasing '52.6%' and Jerry's showing '47.3%'. Daisy's name was in red text, signifying that she was the player who would be felted if she should lose.

"I check-raised all-in, only had less than three thousand left." Daisy closed her eyes. "Alright, I don't wanna look, tell me what happens."

The dealer of the table burned a card to the side, then placed down the turn card. The graphic above the table quickly updated to show the seven of diamonds. Daisy's percentage dropped to 34.1%.

"Turn's a blank," Takeru said, looking up over Daisy's shoulder at the updating graphics. "Still got fifteen cards to hit."

"Oooh boy," Daisy said, bouncing up and down nervously. "Come on, come on, come on..."

"I really didn't like calling," one of the players at the table said, apparently Jerry Blatt himself. "Held my nose and did it, is it really gonna hold?"

"Last card coming!" The Dealer announced, burning another card, then setting out the river.

Takeru's eyes were on the graphic, which quickly generated the final card. Four of spades.

"Spade!" Takeru snapped out immediately. Daisy spun around, clapping her hand together sharply.

"Yes!" she enthused, looking up at the graphic to see the card she needed to complete her spade flush.

"I don't mind losing that, actually," Jerry said, giving a small laugh as he watched the chip pile get pushed over Daisy's way. "If I knocked HER out of this tournament, I think everyone at this table would have kicked my ass. I'm actually kinda happy I lost that one."

Daisy sat back down at the table. "Spades are my least favorite suit too. Had a feeling they'd let me down but I went with it."

"Oh? What's your favorite suit?" The player to her right asked. Daisy responded by reaching up to her right ear, pointing at her earring dangling down below it. "Ah, guess that's kinda obvious."

"Fantastic," Takeru said, stepping away from the rail. "You know how everyone else is doing?" He looked over at Sammy.

"I know Hido's short-stacked, but I think he's still in. Akira's stuck on the table from hell, he's playing with Daniel Karns on his left." Sammy took up stride behind Takeru.

"Oh, I'm jealous, wow," Takeru muttered.

"Jealous? One of the best in the world sitting to his left, what are you jealous for, are you serious?" Sammy gave a small laugh.

"You know he's my idol, right?" Takeru replied. "Sitting next to him, sign me up for that. Besides, like they say, you've got to beat the best if you wanna be the best."

OOO

~Hikari~

"So, what do you think of the game?" Sammy asked, turning to look at Hikari. The two of them were up on the rail, right behind Takeru's seat at the table.

"Well...I'm not sure I get everything yet, sir, but it's certainly a more interesting game than I would have guessed." She gave him a small smile. "A lot more to it that I thought."

"I have a younger sister, she can't stand the game. Thinks it's so boring, we can't even get her to watch my father when he's at a final table. My father won the five thousand dollar stud high low event three years ago, she wasn't even in the stands. Such a shame." Sammy shook his head. "But if you don't get it, you don't get it."

"I'm...I'm not so sure I totally get it either, sir," Hikari said with a bit of a laugh. She appreciated the fact that Sammy was willing to engage in conversation with her, for no other reason than that she was there with him. There was something a little oily about the man, the way he looked with his gaudy rings on his fingers and slicked-back hair, but she definitely appreciated the respect he was showing her.

"Alright," Takeru said, taking his two cards and throwing them over in front of the dealer. "I'll let you bluff me this time."

"Augh," the player three seats to his right grunted. "Nothing's getting past you today." He threw his cards over as well. "I feel like I'm...just getting worked like a speedbag over here."

"Oh, you had it?" Takeru asked, taking one of his black chips and putting it out past the yellow line.

"I had a set of tens," the man replied. "I was praying you had a jack, what good is a set of tens if I can't get paid off?"

"I had a jack," Takeru replied. "Just a weak one though."

"I sort of get the rules, but...seems like you have to be really smart to play this game. Takeru, he's...he's really smart, got a really sharp mind."

Sammy smiled. "When it comes to poker, sure. If he was really smart, he'd stop treading lightly with Daisy."

Hikari's head snapped over to look at Sammy. "Hm?"

"Well, come on." He gave a toothy grin. "Look at them, it's a perfect match. They've known each other since they were ten, they've always been very close, and look at how they talk to each other. There's a very big something there, I see the sparks every time they sit at the poker table together."

Hikari bit her lower lip, nodding slowly. "Mm-hmm."

"He could get her any time he wants, I'm sure of it." He shrugged. "I know he's over there, having fun with the...Angels, but come on. Look at Daisy. You don't slow-play things with a woman like her."

"Fifteen-hundred." Takeru sprinkled out three blue chips from his stack.

The player opposite him on the table sighed. "I guess I'm committed to this pot. I need to chip up, if I throw this away I've got like five big blinds." She stood up from the table. "If you've got it, you've got it. I'm all-in."

"Call," Takeru said immediately, flipping up the queen of hearts and the jack of hearts. "I flopped broadway."

"Oh man, what a flop." With a groan, she turned over the ace of hearts and the five of diamonds. "Knew I shouldn't have played this hand."

The dealer reached forward, taking both player's private cards and putting them up in the middle of the table. A graphic appeared above the table, giving everyone around a chance to see the status of the hand. Both player's hands were shown, along with the board of the ace of spades, king of spades, and the ten of clubs.

Takeru's name sported a comfortable '96.3%' mark.

"Score one for the good guys," Sammy said, watching the dealer tap the felt with his hand a couple times, before placing out a six of clubs.

The graphic updated, now giving Takeru the '100%'.

Hikari nodded, watching the graphic fade away. Elizabeth stood up, reaching over the table to shake Takeru's hand.

"Now that one, you don't have to be too poker-smart for that one. Easy game when you flop the nuts." Sammy pushed his sunglasses up his face, so they were resting on his forehead.

Hikari squinted, turning to Sammy. "Nuts?"

Sammy gave a small laugh. "Nuts, it means the best hand possible given the current board. So Takeru had queen jack, flop is ace king ten, so he has the straight, which is the best possible hand at that moment, so he's flopped the nuts."

Hikari nodded, swallowing down hard.

"Now, he *should* be flopping the nuts on a nightly basis with Daisy, if you get my meaning."

She grimaced, cheeks puffing out slightly.

OOO

~Takeru~

"Ooooh...man, you know." Solomon Gomez leaned forward towards the table, shuffling his chips around. "Nobody wants to go broke on the last hand of the day. You know that I really don't wanna put eight thousand in right here."

Takeru gave his opponent a small smile. "Well, you don't have to if you don't want to."

"Yeah. But maybe I should." Solomon stared down at the board. Five of clubs, nine of diamonds, ten of hearts, ace of hearts. "You know, I should have just folded this preflop, not get involved, but now...I mean, why play this hand, hit the flop like this, and fold it?" He leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. "Oh, god, it would suck so bad to lose most of my chips on the last hand of the day."

"It'd be awesome to double up on the last hand of the day," Takeru countered, with a nonchalant shrug.

"Well. You must have an ace." Solomon began shuffling chips yet again, then neatly placing out eight purple chips in front of him. "You definitely have an ace. What's the other card?" He grimaced. "That is a...that's a large, large bet." He looked over at Takeru. "If I call, you putting me all in on the river?"

"How would I know?" Takeru asked, a small laugh in his voice. "I don't know what the river's going to be, man. I'm not psychic."

"Are you sure?" Peter Kovalev asked from two seats to his left. "You might be. I'm thinking you could be after sitting here the last couple hours."

"Alright." Solomon scooped up his two cards and tossed them over to the dealer. "Live to fight another day."

"Good fold," Takeru said, standing up and picking up his two cards. He flipped them over, exposing the ace of clubs and ace of diamonds.

"Oh!" Solomon said, putting his hands up on his forehead. "You know, I flopped two pair, I had you on the flop." He pointed at the ace on the board. "You needed that ace bad, I had you."

With the pot pushed over to Takeru, a woman wearing a pinstriped suit went up behind the dealer. "Alright, that was the last hand of day one of the tournament. Congratulations to all of you for making it this far. You should all know that we started with one thousand nine hundred seventy entrants, and we are now down to three hundred and eighty three." She pointed down at the table. "Feel free to leave your chips at your seat, we will be guarding the tables tonight, and your chip totals are on record. Play begins again tomorrow at seven in the morning, and will continue until we have a winner. Good evening."

Takeru stood up after stacking his chips, turning around and skipping over to Hikari. "I had a good feeling about this tournament, you know? But it wasn't this good a feeling."

"You're...you're great, sir," Hikari said, clapping her hands together a couple times.

"I mean, I knew this would be a fast tournament and that I'd have to just keep hitting the gas, but I'm reading really good today!" He put his hand up in the air in front of Hikari, causing her to reflexively flinch away. "N-no, it's...it's a high-five."

Hikari stared up at Takeru's open palm, eyes widened a bit.

"It's like...you hit your hand into my hand, it's a celebration thing." Takeru pointed up at his right hand with his left one.

Hikari stood there for a second, then put her fist up towards Takeru's hand and gave it a light punch.

"Close enough," Takeru said, lowering his hand back to his side. "Twenty-nine thousand chips going into day two, just gotta keep putting pressure on people!"

"You're better than all of them, sir," Hikari said. "Definitely."

"Alright." He reached forward and gave her a couple taps on the shoulder with his hand. "Back to the room, and—"

"Excuse me, sir." A woman wearing a flower-patterned sundress came up to Takeru's side. "You're Takeru Ishida?"

Takeru took a moment to examine her interesting outfit before nodding. "Yes, that's me."

"Ah, well, congratulations on being the chip leader after day one," she said. "My name's Morgan Irons, could we get a quick interview to run during the television coverage tomorrow?"

"Uh, oh, sure!" Takeru said. "How long do you need?"

"We'll be pulling you into a little side room and just let you talk about stuff for a bit, shouldn't take more than twenty minutes," Morgan replied. "You know those little pieces we show during the coverage about the interesting players?"

"Yeah, I'd love to." Takeru turned to Hikari. "You remember where the room is?"

Hikari nodded quickly.

"Alright, uh, I'll meet you there in about twenty minutes. You can go to sleep if you want, there's fruit in the fridge I think if you want that, I'll be there soon."

"Oh, who's this?" Morgan asked, turning to look Hikari over. "Friend of yours?"

"Uh...she's here for moral support," Takeru answered. "She's my poker instructor, taught me everything I know."

Hikari's eyes bulged a bit and her face went red, looking up at her master with a tremendous amount of confusion.

"Oh! Well then, maybe she could be part of the interview too?" Morgan asked, smiling at Hikari.

"Oh no, out of the question," Takeru said quickly. "Trust me, this woman, so far above the rim compared to every other player here. I can't risk any of that poker knowledge getting passed to others, you're not getting a word out of her." He gave her a couple pats on the shoulder. "See you back in the room."

Hikari spun around and jogged off, seeming quite happy to get away from the conversation.

"Well la-di-freaking-da," Ken said, emerging from the dissapating crowd of people, everyone ready to go home after a long day of cards. "Takeru Ishida, chipping up and running over the tables, where have I seen this before?"

"Why do I feel a sob story about how you got one-outed on the last hand of the day?" Takeru said, turning to observe his friend approach. "Because I don't wanna hear it. ESPECIALLY if it knocked you out of the tournament."

"Sob story nothing." Ken pointed over his shoulder. "I've got twenty-four thousand chips, I'm sixth! I wreck shop all day, and I STILL can't get past you." Ken turned to look at Morgan, shrugging his shoulders. "Can you believe this son of a bitch, he won't let me have the spotlight for one minute, and we're supposed to be friends."

Takeru gave a couple little chuckles, reaching forward and giving Ken a couple light knocks on his shoulder. "Well...see you at the final table then." He turned back to Morgan. "Alright. Interview it is!" 


	10. Catching Every Card

Chapter 10: Catching Every Card

"My name is Takeru Ishida, I just turned twenty, and I'm now living my dream of playing in the World Series of Poker."

Takeru was seated in a large, tan, cushioned chair in the middle of a small room. It was entirely undescript and plain, little but four walls, a ceiling, a floor, and a door. It served well to put the focus on only the subject.

"I, uh, I've been friends with Samuel Abaid since I was five. Of course, he's the son of the legendary Joseph Abaid, and I don't need to tell you who he is. When me and Sam turned seven, he started teaching us about poker along with another one of our friends, Ken Ichijouji. I loved the game, it really fascinated me. And I was learning from a great one, so it all came together really well."

"So, I went to academy when I turned twelve, I went to Skyridge, and everywhere I looked, there was poker. There were cash games running in the cafeteria and the social rooms constantly, people playing through the night. Tournaments every weekend, sit-and-goes after dinner, it was everywhere." Takeru adjusted himself in his seat. "Uh, I went to my father and I asked him if he'd be willing to give me a bankroll." He gave a slightly uneasy smile. "My father has been running a casino since before I was born, but he wasn't...overly enthusiastic about me becoming a serious poker player." He cleared his throat. "Yeah, let's go with that, not overly enthusiastic. But he gave me ten thousand dollars to start me off, and he said that if I lost all of it, I wasn't getting another dime out of him."

"Well, I didn't lose that ten thousand dollars. Played almost every day for six years, cash games and tournaments, as much as I could get away with." He nodded to himself. "I was...one of the best players at Skyridge during my time there, and by my third year there I was playing at the highest stakes available. I made a lot of good friends there playing poker, formed a bit of a bond with a few of them. And those friends that I made, they're all here playing too, which is great."

"When I left academy, I already knew that I'd be throwing myself into the poker circuit when I turned twenty. I made...probably a little shy of two million playing poker at academy, I have to know if I can turn that success into success at the highest level." He laughed. "I thought I would, but...being the chip leader after day one at my first ever official poker tournament, it's really a dream, I didn't see it playing out like this."

"And...yeah, my father doesn't mind me playing poker anymore," he added.

OOO

"Well, you can certainly question Takeru's youth and inexperience at this level, but you certainly can't question his pedigree or his passion."

Takeru patiently waited as the dealer dealt out the cards, face down as always, turning his head to look at the player one seat to his right.

"We're picking up the action here at table number twenty-one, day two of the thousand dollar no limit holdem event, just a few hands in. This table features the aforemented Takeru Ishida, currently our chip leader."

"What I want to know is if he learned anything at academy. Not a lot of time to learn your multiplication tables when you're busy learning how to bet your flush draws, what's our educational system coming to George?!"

George gave a quick laugh. "It says here that Takeru actually left academy having achieved first class in two categories. Math and psychology. The sorts of skills you need to play poker. Must have found some time to study inbetween hands."

"We've got Dan Silverman first to act, and he's taking a look down at...the two black queens!"

Silverman was quick to take five blue chips from his stack and place them out past the yellow line on the table.

"He makes it twenty-five hundred with pocket queens."

"This tournament remains a fairly shallow one. Big blind is sitting at one thousand, so even Takeru the chip leader has less than thirty big blinds. When you get dealt a big hand like this, you have to go for maximum value and hope it holds up."

Takeru was next to act, taking a look down at the queen of hearts and jack of hearts.

"Queen jack suited for Takeru. The raise from the under-the-gun player should be worthy of a lot of respect, not sure if Takeru is going to come in here."

Takeru finally took out five blue chips of his own, tossing them into the middle casually.

"Well, Takeru's in. He's in bad shape here, but his hand does have flush and straight potential, so he has plenty of chances to crack the pocket queens."

"Stapp folds, Diaw folds, Parker folds...looks like everyone's going to fold, leaving us with just two players to the flop."

The dealer gathered all the chips into the center in front of him.

"You can see how the ante builds a massive pot. Every player is now required to put a hundred into every pot, so even with only two players, this pot is already at seven thousand four hundred, and that's significant when the tournament is this shallow. Anyway, Silverman currently has eighty-three percent equity in this hand."

The flop was placed out. Jack of clubs, five of clubs, jack of diamonds.

"Oookay, that's certainly one way Takeru can crack the queens! He flops trip jacks, takes a commanding lead in the hand."

Silverman took only a couple seconds to size up his stack before grabbing three purple chips, leaving him with only five of that particular denomination.

"And Silverman's queens are almost always going to be the best hand on a flop like this, so he's definitely going to bet this. But unfortunately for him, they're definitely not the best hand, and he might end up losing all of his chips here."

He tossed out the quartet of chips.

"Only decision Takeru has now is to either call or raise."

Takeru, after just a moment, matched the three purple chips, flipping them into the middle of the table.

"Takeru's just calling the three thousand chip bet. He could be doing this with all kinds of hands, including a lot of hands that two queens is currently way ahead of, so Silverman probably still thinks he has the best hand."

"Might look like Takeru has two clubs, or pocket tens."

The dealer tapped the table a couple times, then burned and turned to show the six of spades.

"Turn card is no help to Silverman. In fact, there's only one card left in the whole deck that can save him, since Takeru is holding the queen of hearts. He'll need the queen of diamonds on the river."

"But that's a very safe card for Dan, he still thinks he easily has the best hand here, he has to fire again."

Sure enough, Silverman gathered up a collection of chips of various colors, quickly firing them into the pot.

"Silverman bets four thousand three hundred. Pretty small bet. He might be feeling the stress of the sudden realization that he might be playing for all his chips on the river."

"He might be playing for all of them right here. Takeru could raise, maybe even raise all-in, and I think Dan would have to go with it. Either choice for Takeru is fine, though, he can almost definitely get value on the river."

Takeru, staring Silverman down, finally stacked up four purple chips with three black chips, tossing the collection of discs in.

"Call it is! Takeru will try to get the rest of Silverman's chips on the river."

The dealer, having built a significant pot in front of him, burned another card to the muck before placing out the river card. The jack of spades.

"Oh, wow! The last jack in the deck finds it's way to the board, and Takeru has quad jacks!"

"Yeeeeahh, it's all going in. Silverman thinks that was a great card for him, it gives him a full house and it makes it EXTREMELY unlikely that Takeru has a jack in his hand, so the only two hands he's worried about are pocket kings and pocket aces. Can't really put Takeru on those two hands when he only called preflop."

"All-in," Silverman announced in a soft little mumble.

Immediately, Takeru took a last look down at his two cards. "Call." He flipped them up, revealing the case jack in his hand.

"Wow." Silverman turned over his two queens. "Nice hand."

"That's a pretty brutal one, Dan taking it well all things considered. He's out of this tournament short of the money, and Takeru goes from twenty-nine thousand to forty-nine thousand in a flash!"

"Alright." Dan stood up from his chair. "Good luck, everyone."

"Brutal one," Takeru said, reaching over and shaking Silverman's hand.

OOO

"Well, the seat formerly occupied by Dan Silverman has been filled. None other than the legend himself, Barry Lewis! This table just got even more interesting!"

A rather small man with a neatly sculpted beard and large nose, wearing a rather garish, multi-colored shirt, sat down at the table with a few racks of chips.

"Lewis, eight career world series bracelets under his belt, and he's basically a hurricane at the high-roller events. Takeru probably doesn't love Barry sitting right next to him, that chip lead he's got could disappear quickly."

With a fold in front of him, Lewis looked down at his two hole cards.

"And right away, Lewis wakes up with the ace of hearts and the queen of diamonds from early position."

Lewis put out five blue chips, signifying a raise to twenty-five hundred.

"He makes it two-and-a-half thousand, which has been the standard raise so far today. Chip stacks are still pretty short, so players are a little hesitant about making it the full three times the big blind."

Takeru, sizing up the bet, took a look down his his cards.

"Oh boy! Takeru looks down at the king of clubs and the king of spades, big pot might be developing!"

"Takeru has forty-seven thousand behind, Lewis has thirty-six thousand after that bet, so neither player is really looking to get it all-in here before the flop since they have a lot of chips. But you gotta believe Takeru is going to raise here."

Takeru, with a stoic expression, flicked out a quarter-stack of blue chips.

"Well...he just calls, that's surprising."

In short order, action went around the felt, each player needing only seconds to decide to fold their cards over into the muck.

"Everyone else getting out of the way. Takeru just calling there really widens his range, he could have a lot of different hands, most of which ace queen is way ahead of, so the strength of his hand is really disguised."

"He also might have been hoping someone behind him tried to squeeze, then he could raise when it gets back around to him and really peel out some serious value. No such luck, everyone folds."

The flop came out in short order. Two of clubs, two of hearts, two of diamonds.

"Three ducks on the flop! Kind of interesting."

"Well, Takeru's range after just calling Barry's bet was pretty wide, but he's probably never got a two in his hand. So Lewis's equity in this hand right now is just at seventeen percent, but he thinks his ace queen is the best hand most of the time, so I think he's betting."

As predicted, the continuation bet came out from Lewis. Purple chips, four of them.

"He makes it four thousand chips to go. A little more than half the pot. He's expecting Takeru's just going to have to fold almost any hand he could have here, since it's really hard to put Takeru on kings after he just flatted preflop."

"He's not folding. I think raising would be a big mistake here, calling continues to disguise the strength of his hand."

"Yup, Takeru's putting out four purple chips, he's calling. Raising would probably chase Lewis away, and now he's probably going to unload another bet on the turn here."

"Turn card is coming out...oh, the queen of spades!"

The dealer flipped up the face card, putting it out next to the three deuces.

"Terrible card for Barry. Both players now have a full house, both of them deuces full, but Takeru's two kings beat Barry's two queens. And if Barry thought he had the best hand before, he DEFINITELY thinks he has the best hand now."

Barry, hands moving slowly and deliberately, grabbed a half-stack of blue chips and a purple chip. The eleven little discs went out past the yellow line, signifying a bet of six thousand.

"Pretty binary decision tree for Takeru here. If he thinks Barry has a queen in his hand, he should raise, and if he doesn't think Barry has a queen, he should just call."

Takeru went for his stack of purple chips. He took the column of twenty chips, splitting them out into four stacks of five. He took three of the smaller stacks and put them back into one stack, then pushed it forward.

"And Takeru raises to fifteen thousand!"

"Well, moment of truth for Barry Lewis here. He still has twenty-six thousand in chips, so he CAN fold, especially knowing that he's probably going to have to go all-in on the river. But I don't see how he can get away from this. In his mind, he's only losing to pocket kings or pocket aces, and he can't really put Takeru on either of those hands right now."

Barry Lewis swallowed down hard, finally reaching his hands down to gather up various chips. "I'm calling," he said quietly.

"And Barry Lewis certainly can't fold now on the river. He needs a queen, ace, or two on the river to make the best hand."

With the massive amount of chips in the middle, the dealer took a moment to gather it all in after Lewis made the proper chip offering. Finally, the burn card went out, and the river came down, the three of diamonds.

"That won't do it. Lewis has seventeen thousand chips left, the pot's over forty-five thousand, is there any way Lewis makes it out with anything left?"

"Well, Barry checks, so that might help. Now, you know Takeru really wants to get called here, he's sure he has the best hand. He could make a small bet here, in theory, to make it easier for Barry to call. But there's no reason to not just shove here and go for maximum value, in my opinion."

"Ten thousand," Takeru said, pushing a full stack of blue chips across the yellow line.

"Well, he's going for the small bet here. Lewis is getting more than five-and-a-half to one on a call here, AND if he's wrong, he'll still have seven thousand behind."

Barry winced down hard, leaning forward, staring at the community cards, shuffling his chips with his right hand.

"A lot of leveling going on here from Takeru, I think. When you make a bet that's really small in proportion to the size of the pot, it looks like it's just begging to be called, so it makes Takeru's hand look super strong. Of course, even with that, it's so hard to fold when you're getting such a good price."

"Twenty years old?" Barry turned to look over at Takeru. "First official tournament?"

"Yes sir," Takeru replied, twisting his head over to look at him. "I won't bother asking you either of those questions."

"Takeru getting a little chatty here. Most players would just keep quiet in a spot like this, though it's hard to say what it means."

"I just don't think the young ones have the courage to flat preflop with aces and kings." Barry said. He took a stack of blue chips and shoved them forward. "I call."

Quickly, Takeru flipped up his two kings, drawing a quick scowl from Barry.

"Well, so much for that," Barry said, tossing his hand into the muck. "You played that one perfectly...Ishida, is it?"

"Thank you, sir. Means a lot coming from you," Takeru replied, taking in the large pot of chips.

"Takeru showing his elder, as well as one of the all-time greats, his due respect. But he definitely had him on a string on that hand, and he's now up to over eighty thousand in chips!"

"Maintains his stranglehold on the tournament chip lead, and has put one of the best players remaining in the field on vapors! He's showing everyone that day one wasn't just one-off!"

OOO

~Takeru~

"I swear, I woke up this morning planning to play really aggressive," Takeru said, shaking his head as he walked through the pathway between tables, carrying four plastic racks of full of chips, stacked on top of each other. "I was planning to open every pot that got folded to me in late position, I was going to raise nearly everything from the button, the whole nine yards!"

"Yeah, I'm sure, you keep telling yourself that buddy," Daryl said, grinning, taking up stride next to Takeru. "Somewhere between the bed and the table, you clearly changed your mind and transformed into a nit."

"You'd play like a nit too if you kept ringing up monster pots on your good hands!" Takeru stopped, turning to Daryl. "Why play my bad hands when I keep getting paid off on my big hands, right?"

Daryl nodded. "You are getting some pretty hefty value. Did you see Barry Lewis's face when you turned over those kings?"

"I've been watching him since yesterday, he's been running really good," Sammy added.

"Less than three hundred entrants left," Daryl added. "You hold on for another two hours, you're definitely gonna be in the money."

"I think my goals are a little higher right now," Takeru replied, stopping by one set of rails surrounding a table. "Alright, this is my new table, here we go."

Sammy, Daryl, and Hikari all stopped at the railing as Takeru carefully stepped over it, cautious to not spill his chips.

"I'm gonna go grab some food," Daryl said, pointing over to the right at the booths. "You guys want anything?"

Sammy looked over the crowd at the line of booths. "I forgot to eat anything this morning. What excuse do I have, I'm not even playing today!" He grimaced. "Uh, the chicken and beef teriyaki dish they've got, just order it and tell them to bring it over to table eight, I'll be hanging around here." He pointed at Hikari. "You?"

"I'm...I'm good, sir," Hikari replied.

"You should get her a chocolate bar, she'll love it," Sammy suggested. "Come on, Hikari, there's a whole world of sugar you've got to be introduced to."

Hikari gave Sammy a shocked look, turning to look at the taller man with wide eyes.

"What? Your name?" He shrugged. "How would I forget a name like that? Anyway, it's got the same flavor as the ice cream you were eating yesterday, but it's more...focused, more dense."

Hikari's eyes flashed. "They...they can make that?"

Immediately, Takeru burst out laughing, pointing at Hikari. "Oh wow, look at her eyes! Lit up like fireworks when you said that!" He nodded. "Yeah, get her one of those." He turned around, putting his focus on the table in front of him. His grin immediately disappeared at what he saw. "Holy crap!"

Quickly, he went up to the table, circling around to seat number seven, eyes glued to the player in seat eight. "Daniel?!"

"Hm?" Daniel Karns looked up at Takeru. A short, rather unassuming man with a rather unkempt beard.

"Oh, wow," Takeru said, looking away from the table, eyes wide. "I'm sitting next to Daniel Karns at the World Series of Poker, are you serious right now?!"

Daniel nodded. "And I'm sitting next to...uh..." he looked up at Takeru's chip racks. "Aw, crap, I'm sitting next to the Ishida kid, the chip leader? That you?"

"Yes sir," Takeru said, taking his seat on Daniel's immediate right. "Big fan, Mister Karns, you're my idol."

"Well, I might not be after today," Karns said, nevertheless a large smile on his face.

"I very much doubt that." Takeru began stacking his chips on the felt in front of him. "I was eight when you won the five thousand dollar horse event, I remember watching it."

Daniel's eyes widened a bit, nodding. "That was a good one. Kinda miss that event." He pointed down at his chip stack, circling his finger around it. "This one, not going so good."

Takeru leaned forward and looked over. "Like...five thousand six hundred? That's more than enough for you man, you only need a few chips! You can dodge bullets!"

Daniel gave a little laugh. "Been dodging bullets all day already. Miracle I'm not felted yet."

OOO

"I'm not gonna ruin your view of me if I whine a bit about bad luck, am I? I'd hate to do that," Daniel added. "Seriously, I was actually one of the chip leaders when the day started."

"Hey, I get it, Mister Karns. Everyone complains about bad luck sometimes, I've been around poker long enough to know that," Takeru replied, putting out one black chip.

"That's our chip leader, Takeru Ishida, just joining table eight, and geeking out a little bit about getting to play with Daniel Karns."

"Hard to blame Takeru, Karns is one of the biggest names in professional poker right now. But it's been a rough day for him, and he's down below five big blinds. You know he's going to have to double up at least once to make the money, and he's going to need a serious run of pot scooping if he wants to even think about making the final table."

With Takeru ready, the cards began to get passed out to each player.

"Let's be clear, Karns does not care about making the money in this tournament. He made close to two million dollars last year at the World Poker Tour alone, so picking up a couple thousand dollars here would probably feel like working for less than the minimum wage as far as he's concerned. If he doesn't make the final twenty, then this tournament is definitely a failure for him, and at the end of the day, he's here for the bracelet."

In short order, everyone around the table folded, Takeru taking a beat to settle himself before looking down at his two cards. Ace of hearts and ace of spades.

"And...heh, Takeru Ishida takes a seat at the table, and before he even has all of his chips stacked, he gets dealt the best starting hand in Holdem, a pair of aces, from the cutoff."

Takeru, with a moment of thought, grabbed three purple chips and tossed them out in front of him, taking back the black chip.

"He makes it three thousand. The big blind is up to twelve hundred now, so that's two-and-a-half times the big blind, fairly standard. And if Karns wakes up with any kind of a hand here, this might be it for him."

"And Daniel...jack of diamonds, jack of clubs, hoo boy."

Daniel took the entire remainder of his chip stack and began shuffling them, looking over at Takeru, giving him a staredown.

"Pocket jacks on the button for Daniel, so long Mister Karns. He's going all-in, Takeru is calling, and barring a minor miracle with how the board runs out, it'll be lights out for Danny."

"Five thousand six hundred, all-in," Daniel said.

"Takeru counting the seconds for the blinds to fold."

Both the other two players still in the hand tossed their cards over to the dealer, donating their blinds and antes to the pot between Takeru and Daniel.

"I call," Takeru said immediately. Daniel could only wince at the speed that Takeru spoke with.

"You know, I'm actually kind of happy," Daniel said, flipping over his two jacks. "You'd think I'd be annoyed, but you're actually putting me out of my misery, so I'm pretty good with it."

Takeru, without a word, turned over the pocket aces.

"Yup," Daniel said, a tone of resignation in his voice.

"No way Karns could fold pocket jacks with so few chips left in front of him. He did the only thing he could do, and he's a big underdog now."

"Actually..." Daniel stood up, closing his eyes and putting his hands together in front of him. "You know, I actually feel like a jack is coming." He nodded. "I think it's coming! Yeah, the whole day's been a mess, it's all led up to this moment, I'm gonna spike a jack!" He pointed at Takeru. "I mean, this guy can afford it, he wouldn't even be that mad if it happened."

"Oh my God. I just sat down at a poker table with Daniel Karns and felted him after one hand," Takeru said, looking mildly shocked.

"So you're not feeling a jack?" Daniel asked, grinning. "I dunno man, I'm kinda feeling it."

"I was actually looking forward to playing with you for a couple hours," Takeru said, a tinge of regret in his voice.

"Well, you could have folded," Daniel said, voice playful and joking.

"Had Takeru folded his aces preflop, he would almost definitely have faced an accusation of collusion by the tournament officials, probably would have been penalized."

The dealer put out three cards, the three of diamonds, two of hearts, and three of spades.

"Horrible flop for Karns. He's got no backdoor outs, he has no hope of making a flush or a straight, and he's now down to eight percent equity. Has to catch a jack."

"I said I felt it was coming, I didn't say where!" Daniel said, bouncing around as he stood there to Takeru's left.

"Karns remains optimistic, but he's down to two outs with two cards coming."

The dealer, with only a moment of pause, put down the ten of diamonds.

"Alright, I don't feel it coming anymore." Daniel reached down underneath his seat, pulling out a black bag with a shoulder strap. "I changed my mind, it's not coming."

Takeru looked up at Daniel, extending his hand up towards him. "Sorry, man."

"I'd say good luck, but I don't think you need it." Daniel took Takeru's hand and shook it. "Man, if I doubled up here I think I could have at least made the money."

"You won the Super High Roller in Brugal last month, I don't think eight hundred dollars would have done much for you," Takeru countered.

The dealer, burning a card, put out the river. Eight of spades.

"Alright, have fun everyone!" Daniel called out, waving to the table and turning towards the rail.

"Takeru might be a little disappointed that he only got to play with Karns for one hand, but he has to feel great about getting up to just under a hundred thousand chips AND eliminating one of the best players left in the field!"

"Where's Karns go?"

Takeru turned his head to look behind him. Sammy, Hikari, and Daryl were standing there by the railing, Daryl with a box of popcorn in one hand and a candy bar in the other. Daryl was looking around in confusion.

"Bathroom break?" Daryl asked Takeru.

"Uh...I might have just...felted him," Takeru said tenatively, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, you're shitting me!" Daryl's eyes flew open, as he looked around, as if expecting to see Karns suddenly re-appear and cast Takeru's statement as a joke.

"I saw it happen right in front of me," Sammy said.

"God damn, I leave for five minutes, and you bust out a legend?" Daryl gave a small laugh. "This has got to be the greatest show in the world!"

"Takeru talking with a couple of his friends there. They seem just as shocked as everyone else at Karns's departure."

OOO

"Bob Watson in early position, under the gun plus one, looking down at six five, both spades."

Watson, putting his two cards next to each other in front of him, furrowed his brow in thought.

"Small suited connectors can be a fun hand to play, but from early position, it might be best to just get rid of this one."

Watson took three purple chips and fired them out.

"Watson raises to three thousand."

"Well, raising is probably better than just calling here. Represents a much stronger hand since he's in such early position. He does have forty thousand chips, so he can afford to gamble a little bit, and if he gets re-raised he can just throw the hand away."

A flurry of folds took the action around the table, stopping one seat shy of where Takeru sat.

"Well, he should get at least a call here from Abram Radmanovich, he's got pocket sixes."

Abram blinked down at his cards for a moment, then placed out the required offering of three purple chips.

"Radmanovich calls. He's down to about twenty thousand, so he's got less room to mess around. This would be a phenomenal spot for Takeru to put out a three-bet here, he might get both of these guys to fold. Of course, he can't know that."

Takeru looked down at his two cards, bending his head down low.

"Well, he might not know that, but he's probably going to three-bet here all the same. Ace of spades, king of diamonds for Takeru!"

"Pretty much a mandatory raise here, and it might pick up the pot preflop."

Takeru pulled out a full stack of purple chips, cutting it in half, then pulling one chip off of the right stack and putting it on the left. He pushed the right stack out in front of him.

"Takeru pushes it to nine thousand. The small blind folds immediately."

The player two seats to the left of Takeru looked down to her cards.

"And Carly Landeau, from the big blind, has ace king as well! Ace of hearts, king of clubs."

"Okay, this hand just got a lot less interesting. Carly's probably going to put in a four-bet here, Watson and Radmanovich will fold, and Takeru and Carly are destined to split this pot."

Carly, using her small, thin hands, push forward a full stack of purple, representing a raise to twenty thousand.

"She four-bets to twenty grand, getting Watson to fold immediately. Now, Radmanovich is gonna think about this for a second, but I think he knows he has to let this one go."

Radmanovich, a look of annoyance on his face, played with his chips for a few moments.

"Takeru started this hand with ninety-five thousand, and Carly started it with sixty thousand, so both players have plenty of chips. And we're right near the money bubble, so there's a chance these two proceed cautiously. But there could definitely be an all-in preflop with these two hands, and Radmanovich does NOT want to get involved with that."

Radmanovich slid his cards over to the dealer.

"Abram folds his pocket sixes, leaving only two players in the pot, both holding ace king. A chopped pot is virtually guaranteed, particularly if they get it all in here."

Takeru, considering things for only a few seconds, grabbed a pair of chips from the back of his chip pile. Gold and silver colors alternated along the faces of these chips.

"Those gold and silver chips are worth ten thousand each, Takeru's about to force Carly to make a tough decision for her entire tournament. I can't see Carly folding, but being this close to the money has to at least put the thought in her head."

Takeru bounced out the two chips, along with four purple ones.

"Takeru puts twenty-four thousand in, bouncing the raise size all the way up to thirty-three thousand. Now Carly has forty thousand behind, there's sixty-two thousand in the pot, I think shoving is the best move. You might get Takeru to fold a hand like pocket tens or pocket jacks, and as long as he doesn't have aces or kings you have reasonable equity."

"Huge pot developing, probably about to get bigger."

"I'm all-in," Carly said, voice barely audible from behind her steepled fingers.

"I call," Takeru replied.

"There it is! Carly six-bets all-in, Takeru calls immediately, and after all that, we're almost certainly chopping this pot!"

"Takeru must feel like he has some kind of read on Carly. He didn't even hesitate in calling, almost as if it didn't even occur to him that Carly could have aces or kings."

Carly flipped over her off-suit ace king, immediately followed by Takeru turning up his own very similar hand.

"After all that, we're seriously gonna split this pot?" Carly said. "Don't know why I'm disappointed, when you snap-called I thought you had aces."

"I'll take a chop," Takeru said, nodding. "Chop is good."

"Both players have two percent equity in the hand right now. The other ninety-six percent of the time, this pot gets split."

The dealer, with a veritable mountain of clay chips before him, put out three cards on the board.

"Jack of clubs, seven of spades, king of spades on the flop, and...well, we have ourselves a bit of a sweat. Carly officially can not win this hand under any circumstance, but Takeru is holding the ace of spades, so if he catches running spades, the hand is his."

"Carly prays for a red card on the turn so she can sit back down and breathe again."

The dealer, with a quick burn and turn, revealed the ten of spades.

"Oh, shit," Carly said under her breath, with a bit of a disbelieving laugh in her voice nonetheless, putting her hands up to her mouth.

"It's...it's not actually going to happen, is it?"

"Well, if the river is another spade, Takeru will take an extremely unlikely pot. But it can't possibly happen, it would be WAY too gross of a way to get busted out of a tournament. Right?"

"Come on, you got any red cards in that deck?" Carly groaned. "Please, red, red card."

Takeru said nothing, serenely looking down at the spot where the river card would go.

"Great moment for Takeru. At worst, he's splitting the pot and will chip up over four thousand chips, but if the spade comes in, he'll rocket all the way up to one hundred and seventy-six thousand seven hundred!"

The dealer, after burning the top card. Put down the river. Jack of spades.

"Oh my GOD! That is GROTESQUE!"

Carly's head immediately drooped down low, looking down at the floor.

"Takeru makes the nut flush, and improbably, has eliminated Carly Landeau from the tournament!"

"Well. I've had a lot of tournament eliminations over the years that I don't remember. At least I'll remember this one." She gave a strained smile. "Alright, good luck everyone." She kneeled down by her chair, grabbing a small purse, and walked over to Takeru. Takeru, wordlessly, took her hand and shook it.

"Takeru not saying a word here, knows he basically just won the lottery, nothing much he can say that wouldn't just be twisting the knife for Carly."

As Carly made her way over the rail, a series of soft, yet still quite loud, tones sounded off, almost like a pleasant alarm.

"And the money bubble has burst! With that elimination, there are now two hundred players left in this tournament, and all remaining players will receive a cash prize when they get felted! Carly Landeau is the bubble girl, and she did it in the ugliest way you could imagine."

"That alarm is sweet music to the ears of everyone with chips left in front of them. We've got a few players around the room with only a few thousand chips left, they can loosen up a bit and try to chip up with the knowledge that they're taking home something. Next handful of eliminations will take home one thousand seven hundred and seventy-three dollars. And Carly is gonna try to find somewhere to throw up."

OOO

"Takeru, in the cutoff, with one seventy-five in chips, takes a look at the jack of spades and nine of diamonds."

"Pretty mediocre hand here for Takeru, but nobody's opened the pot yet and he can likely buy the button if he raises, so it's probably good enough. Helps when you have all the chips in the world too."

Takeru flipped out three purple chips and two black chips, taking back the one black chip he had already put out.

"Makes it thirty-two hundred to go."

The button and small blind both immediately threw their hands over to the dealer, leaving just one opponent to consider his options.

"Well, Matthew McDonald is in the big blind with the jack of clubs and the ten of diamonds. He's already got fifteen hundred chips committed to this pot from his blind, I think he'll be calling."

McDonald took back the handful of chips in front of him, putting out three purples and two blacks to match Takeru's wager.

"McDonald just joined this table a few hands ago, clearly nobody told him to not get involved in pots with the BUZZSAW that is Takeru Ishida...although he does have Takeru dominated right now. Plus, McDonald actually does have one hundred and twenty thousand in chips, so he's one guy who can actually put a dent in Takeru's chipstack right now."

"Sixty-nine percent equity for McDonald, nineteen percent for Takeru. Twelve percent of the time they'll chop."

The dealer laid out three cards. Seven of diamonds, jack of hearts, nine of clubs.

"And THIS is why you don't get involved in pots with the buzzsaw. McDonald has flopped top pair, but Takeru has flopped top TWO pair to turn the tables of the hand!"

"Another donation to Takeru's chipstack coming up."

McDonald, with little thought, tapped the felt a few times with his right hand.

"McDonald does check top pair, however, which could limit the damage."

Takeru picked up a stack of purple chips, looking them over closely.

"Takeru's definitely betting here, there's already a possible straight out there, he can't just give a free card and let it be an eight or a ten, both cards that would either kill his action or give McDonald a better hand."

Takeru dropped out four purple chips.

"Four thousand chip raise from Takeru. He's got a lot of chips, and he's not afraid to use them. McDonald isn't going anywhere, he's got top pair and a gutshot to a straight. He might even raise here."

After some consideration, McDonald extended his hand out with four purple chips, dropping them past the yellow line.

"The sick thing is, McDonald probably thinks he's trapping Takeru here. Turn card coming."

"Jack of diamonds on the turn! Takeru now has a full house, jacks full of nines, and McDonald has trip jacks!"

With the turn card out, Matthew McDonald again tapped the felt lightly.

"With two jacks on the board and a jack in his hand, it's really hard for Matt to give Takeru credit for holding a jack. He thinks Takeru is bluffing and is looking to trap him. Takeru can bet pretty much any amount he wants and get called."

Takeru, staring down McDonald on the other side of the table, absentmindedly playing with his chips, finally reached his hand to the back of his stack and pulled a gold and silver chip. He flipped it forward.

"Ten thousand into a pot of fifteen thousand seven hundred. Pretty big bet, and it's definitely getting called."

McDonald milked the time a fair amount, considering his options for several long seconds, before cutting a stack of purple chips in half and pushing it forward.

"McDonald just calls. He's already invested over seventeen thousand into this hand, and unless he spikes a ten on this river, he's gonna lose all that plus more."

The dealer, satisfied with the chip donations of both players, placed down the three of hearts.

"That won't do it for McDonald. How much is he going to lose in this hand?"

McDonald, for a third time, led the action with a tap of the table, putting the action on Takeru.

"Matthew thinks he's being sneaky, doing nothing but checking and calling. Granted, he's definitely disguised the strength of his hand, but the problem is, his hand is second best, disguised or not."

Takeru began putting together his bet, taking out a full stack of purple, then adding two gold and silver ones atop it. Slowly, he pushed the twenty-two chip tower out.

"Wow! Takeru makes a HUGE bet here, thirty thousand, nearly the size of the pot!"

McDonald swallowed down hard, staring at the massive representation of value that Takeru had just wagered.

"Aaand McDonald is starting to sense danger. A bet this big is extremely polarizing, it basically means Takeru either has a full house or he has absolutely nothing. The absolute worst hand Takeru would do this with for value is probably ace jack, so in essence, McDonald can only beat Takeru if he's bluffing."

"And we know he's certainly not. In fact, he's holding the absolute nuts, jacks full of nines."

"I call," McDonald said, gathering up three stacks of purple chips and shoving them forward.

Takeru silently showed his hand, the unbeatable full house. McDonald could only frown as he slipped the chips forward towards the dealer, knowing he wouldn't be seeing those chips again for at least a little while.

"McDonald loses more than a third of his chips, and he didn't really do anything wrong there. Can't fold a hand that strong. Just bad luck. And his bad luck is Takeru's good luck, he's now got over two hundred and twenty thousand!"

OOO

~Hikari~

"I'm not being sarcastic at all, I'm extremely proud of this."

Akira was holding two pieces of paper up in front of his chest. The first was full sized, white with a few decorative lines of light green running around it, bearing a simple paragaph.

"Akira Ueno, congratulations on finishing 186th in the 2021 World Series of Poker $1,000 No Limit Holdem event. The World Series of Poker is made by the players who participate in it, and you have proven yourself to be a great one with your performance. On behalf of Tournament Director Jack Custer, we appreciate your high quality of play and wish to see you again."

The second was much smaller, a small slip, that showed only a string of random letters and numbers, followed by the notation of '$1,773'.

"I'm proud of the fact that I'm here," Sammy said. The two of them were still up on the rail, still watching Takeru running hotter than the sun at his table. Hikari, of course, dutifully stood there, obeying her only order of imparting good luck onto her owner, Daryl standing next to her. "I'm twenty years old and I'm playing in the world series, that's incredible."

"No, I want praise for the fact that I'm proud." Akira pointed over at Takeru's back. "Because with him taking a flamethrower to the entire field right now, it's AMAZING that I'm proud of my performance in this tournament. I deserve serious credit for being proud."

"Hey, if any of us were getting the cards he's getting we'd do well." He turned to look at Takeru's back. "Maybe not THAT well, but...we'd do very well."

"Look at how she's taken to the game," Daryl said, looking over at Hikari. "She can't take her eyes off of Takeru, all day."

Hikari shrunk her head down slightly, looking over at Daryl.

"I'm glad you can appreciate what you're watching," Daryl continued. "It's not often that a poker player runs like this. And when a player does get this hot, it's an absolute thing of beauty to watch."

"So. Profit of just under eight hundred dollars, what you gonna do with it?" Sammy asked Akira.

"That's a good question," Akira replied, leaning up on the rail. "I could get some decals on my jet. That's a practical use of poker winnings, isn't it?"

"Quads." Takeru flipped up his hand.

"Wow." A player across from him threw his hand into the muck. "At least I knew not to bet the river."

"How did YOU not bet the river?" another player chimed in, also putting his cards over into the fold pile. "You checked that?"

Takeru shrugged. "I thought one of you two was going to bet it, I was trapping!"

"Did he seriously get quads again?" Sammy asked, craning his neck up to try to see the table.

"This is the second time today I've gotten quads," Takeru continued, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's unreal, this whole tournament. Especially today, it's been insane."

"Takeru has played a lot of poker in his life, he's seen almost everything. And even he can't believe this, that should tell you something," Daryl said, speaking to Hikari more than anything.

"So is this the scene of the murderers?"

The four turned away from the table to find Miyako coming up, holding her hands behind her back, a cheerful smile on her face.

"The murderers are still happening," Akira said. "He hit quads not thirty seconds ago."

"No wonder I couldn't make a hand the last hour," Miyako grumbled. "Takeru's taking all of them."

"So you're out?"

Miyako cleared her throat. "Welcome to Profit City. Population..."

She pulled two pieces of paper from behind her back, both almost identical to Akira's. The larger one substituted her name in, and also placed '140th' instead of '186th'. The second held a similar string of letters and numbers, capped off with a '$2,128'.

"...me."

"Alright, you go!" Sammy said, reaching her hand out towards Miyako, letting her lightly smack it across the palm.

"Congratulations, ma'am," Hikari said, bowing her head slightly in Miyako's direction. "You must be very proud."

"She's no ma'am," Sammy said jokingly, turning back to look at Takeru.

"Yeah, but I like being called one." Miyako went up to the rail, leaning up against one of the little poles that supported it. "And so, with eleven hundred in profit in my pocket, I thought I'd slip over here and lend moral support to the man on fire."

Daryl scoffed. "He doesn't need it. And I'm totally telling Ken that you came here instead of going to him."

"I went to Ken first," Miyako said dismissively. "He's like, eighth in chips, doing great." He pointed at Takeru. "But this...this is a different level. I saw the chip leaderboard, he's got it crushed. Hell, we might even be watching history."

OOO

"Wow! And after a day of hitting card after card, Takeru might finally be running into danger!"

The flop was put down, jack of diamonds, nine of hearts, jack of clubs, three players still in.

"Three players see this flop, and what a flop! Gregory Ward has pocket sixes, so he missed, but Takeru Ishida is holding king jack for trip jacks. BUT, Claire Racener is holding jack nine, and has flopped a full house!"

"Racener checks her full house, hoping someone bets. The good news for Takeru is that he has two hundred and seventy thousand chips and Racener has ninety thousand, so she can't do TOO much damage to the chip leader, but she can chip away at that stack."

Ward tapped the felt, putting the action onto Takeru, who acted decisively in putting out a silver and gold chip along with a purple one.

"Bets eleven thousand into a pot of nearly twenty-three. This kid has been making more hands today than a mannequin factory, and he's made another one, but this time it's not the best one."

Racener, expression flat and unreadable, matched the bet with the same chips, calling the wager wordlessly.

"She calls, and Ward folds, figuring his sixes can't possibly be good with a better and caller already in. Takeru has fourteen percent equity, he needs a king to take the lead. Also some split pot possibilities."

The dealer placed down a six of spades.

"Well, Ward WOULD have made a full house if he had called, but it would have been a lesser full house than Racener's so he's quite lucky he folded. Anyway, no help to Takeru there, still well behind."

Racener checked, prompting Takeru to immediately move to his chips. "Half-pot," he said quietly, putting chips together.

"Takeru announces a bet of twenty-two thousand four hundred. Can't really be blamed for thinking he has the best hand here, just one of those hands. The kids call it a cooler."

Racener didn't take long to make an identical tower of chips, preparing to call Takeru's large bet, pumping the pot to just shy of ninety grand.

"Well, Takeru can still win this one with a king, and if another nine comes we'll see a split pot. But he might finally be giving back a few chips after running so well."

One more card coming to complete the board, the dealer obliged by burning one before setting out the king of hearts.

"The river's a king! Takeru now has a higher full house than Racener!"

"Oh my God, this Takeru kid spikes more than a lie detector on a politician. There's only one hand in the world that Takeru is losing to, pocket kings, and the way Racener played this hand it's tough to believe she has that."

Racener again checked.

"Racener passes the action to Takeru, she's trying to trap! She's praying that Takeru fires out another bet, and she's certainly going to shove all-in and go for the double up. Unfortunately for her, there will be no double up, and she's the one getting trapped!"

Takeru put together a small tower, three silver and golds on top of five purples.

"Thirty-five thousand goes into the middle from Takeru! If Racener calls and loses, she'd be left with less than sixteen thousand, but I don't think she's even considering a call here."

"I'm all-in," Racener said.

"Call," Takeru immediately followed, turning over his jacks full of kings.

Racener's eyes bulged a bit at the sight, before giving a resigned nod. "Good hand." She stood up.

"There are less than two million chips in play in the entire tournament. Takeru now has three hundred seventy-five thousand of them!"

"Which might not be such a big deal if there weren't still seventy-three players left in the field. Someone should ask him if having that horseshoe stuck up there is uncomfortable."

OOO

~Takeru~

"Read em and weep!" Daisy ran forward towards the railing, holding a slip of paper in front of her out towards Takeru. It was her own congratulatory note from the world series, thanking her for her strong performance that had warranted a fifty-eighth place finish.

"Alright, that a way!" Takeru gave her a thumbs up as she went up to him.

Daisy then showed the other slip, indicating a payout of four thousand seven hundred eighty-seven dollars. "You doubted me, you all doubted me, you all told me to go home and get in the kitchen and pop out babies, look at me NOW!"

Sammy stifled a laugh. "Oh yes, we did all say that."

"We said that like every day for the last eight years," Takeru added, unable to supress a grin.

"W...wait. Why would you...say that to her?" Hikari asked, holding her hand up in the air, almost like she was trying to get called on by a teacher.

Miyako squeezed her eyes shut, giving a small laugh. "This girl is so great. It's seriously so refreshing to have someone around here who doesn't speak sarcasm!"

Daisy clapped her hand on Hikari's shoulder. "They didn't say that to me, I just...always wanted to say something like that." She shrugged.

"...oh," Hikari replied, meekly turning away from the group, clearly embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it," Daisy said casually. "You not getting the joke is proof that you're the only good person here. We're all awful." She turned over to Takeru, beaming. "So...did I catch the leaderboard right? Three hundred and sixty thousand chips?"

"Eh, I lost count somewhere around two-fifty, but...yeah, that's close enough," Takeru said, turning around to look at his seat at the table.

"He's shattered so many dreams today," Yuma joked. "He's an absolute monster. He can't be stopped, can only be contained."

"Hey, I haven't won a serious hand in over an hour," Takeru protested.

"And you still have all the chips in the world!" Sammy shook his head. "I mean, I know you ran over some of the tournaments back in academy, but this...this is the world series!"

"We're down to the final forty-five players, so we're getting down to the final five tables." Takeru turned around to see tournament officials moving about, trying to organize the remaining pieces of the event, getting the five tables ready. "Ultra deluxe table coverage now. I saw Ken's still got eighty grand, maybe we'll get at the same table, that'd be tight."

"Where's Ken anyway? Too good for us now?" Yuma looked around over his shoulder.

"Well, play starts again in like twelve minutes, not a ton of time for a good luck quickie from Miyako," Daryl said. "Probably had to move fast."

"Charming," Daisy said flatly. "Say, TK...I probably shouldn't say anything, but...you know you're going for the record, right?"

"Yes." Takeru turned around towards the table, rolling his arms back, stretching. "So please don't remind me." 


	11. Gutshot

Chapter 11: Gutshot

"I had to go with this one." Gregory turned over an ace and a ten, both hearts. "How far behind am I?" He craned his neck up, looking to his right, watching Takeru turn over the ace of diamonds and king of spades. "Alright, gotta get lucky."

"Good luck." Takeru stood up, walking over to the railing at his cheering section. "If this holds up, we're down to four tables. How's Ken?"

"I just checked," Daisy said. "He's into six figures now, one twenty something."

The hologram went up above the table, detailing the hole cards of the two participants, Takeru with a '73%' beneath his hand.

"Ward went all-in preflop with ace ten?" Yuma said, looking up at the projection.

"He only had eleven thousand left, less than six bigs," Takeru explained, pointing up at the hologram. "Had to go with it."

"Right, right." Three cards came up on the graphic, four of hearts, four of clubs, three of diamonds.

"Pretty good flop for me," Takeru said under his breath, watching Gregory Ward stand up and begin to gather his belongings from underneath his chair. "Say, where's Hido, anyone seen him?"

"Yeah. He got eliminated early today, he's up in his room," Yuma replied, pointing up at the ceiling.

"What, he's that upset about it?" Takeru raised an eyebrow. "Can't even show up to cheer on his friends as they march closer and closer to the final table?"

A fourth card came up on the projection. Queen of diamonds.

"He says he sends his regards and is hoping both of you make it to the end, but he's not hanging around with her." He pointed at Hikari, who snapped her head around to look at Yuma as he pointed at her.

"Oh." Takeru shrugged. "Well, choosing between him and her, pretty easy pick. Especially right now."

The river was shot up on the hologram, the useless eight of clubs, giving Takeru the victory with ace high and a superior kicker.

"Alright," Ward said. "Not a horrible way to start the world series." He waved at the table, slowly retreating from it. "Good luck, everyone."

"Nice playing with you," Takeru said as Gregory passed him by, extending his hand out towards him. He took it and shook it.

"Just shy of six grand is actually a pretty big deal to me, I got no regrets," Greg replied. "Now go make sure that I get to tell all my friends back home I got eliminated by the guy who won the whole thing, makes a better story."

OOO

"Twenty-five players left in the field, the payouts are now up to nearly seventy-five hundred dollars. Table number two, Takeru Ishida still king of the world, four-hundred and fifty thousand chips in front of him, nearly a quarter of the chips in play."

"Well, he's had the chip lead most of the tournament and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down, so I imagine he'll be using those chips to keep up the pressure. Everyone's folded to him in the small blind, so he can almost just throw out a raise here without even looking at his cards."

Takeru bent his head down, looking at the king of hearts and the eight of hearts.

"Takeru's got a decent hand, there's only one other player in the hand, he should absolutely be raising here. Joseph Leonard in the big blind has fifty-four thousand left, Takeru could force him into a decision for his tournament life."

"Fifty-four thousand?" Takeru said, craning his neck up to look at the stack of the player to his immediate left. "Fifty-four thousand behind?"

Joseph nodded.

"Okay. Fifty-four thousand is the bet." Takeru began to get chips together, putting a stack of gold and silver chips out in front of him.

"And Takeru says, to heck with waiting, let's just get it all in here! Either Leonard has a hand here that he likes enough to risk his tournament on, or he doesn't. And he's gonna have to make that decision right now, this is called playing big stack bully!"

Joseph, with a small nod to Takeru's bet, finally pried up the corners of his two cards.

"Nine of clubs and nine of spades for Joseph, and he's gotta call this."

"Well, Leonard does have about eighteen big blinds left, so he could lay this down. But the average stack size right now is eighty grand, so he is starting to get short relative to the rest of the field, may as well get it in and hope for the best."

"Alright, let's go. I call." Joseph stood up, showing his two nines.

"You're a favorite," Takeru informed him, turning over his two hearts. "Two-to-one."

"Joseph in good position to double up here, which would be HUGE for his chances to make the final table. Takeru will be looking for a king, or hearts."

"Hearts are my favorite though," Takeru said with a smile. "Just so you're warned."

"Takeru's chip count is so massive, he doesn't really have to sweat this one. He can lose without it hurting that much, and he'll gladly accept being a two-to-one underdog since it's an opportunity to knock another player out."

The dealer put down three cards. Ace of hearts, five of hearts, six of clubs.

"Two hearts on the flop for Takeru, he goes from thirty-three percent equity to forty-seven!"

"I'm thinking of a really fun turn card here," Takeru said, grinning up at the dealer. "Nine of hearts. Make it interesting, put down the nine of hearts."

"The nine of hearts would give Takeru a flush, but would give Joseph a set of nines, meaning he could hit a full house on the river. Takeru being sporting."

The turn card surfaced from the deck. Four of hearts.

"And you just knew he was gonna get it somehow. That card gives Takeru the flush, Joseph drawing dead."

"Can't even get a river sweat," Joseph lamented, standing up from his seat. "Well, can't complain about picking up a couple months of mortgage payments."

Takeru put his hand out to the eliminated player, shaking his hand. "Good playing with you."

OOO

~Hikari~

"You can thank Ken for getting us down to eighteen!" Miyako called out from the rail at Takeru's back. "He decided he wanted to set most of his chips on fire and went all-in on a straight draw, and he got there on the river. Eliminated the nineteenth place finisher."

"I heard that!" Ken's voice came from the table one over from Takeru's. "Shoving on a straight draw is a perfectly valid strategy to capture fold equity while still giving yourself outs!"

"How did he hear me?" Miyako's forehead wrinkled. "Freaking...super-hearing powers."

"Knowing him, he built an earpiece tuned to the specific frequency of your voice," Akira said dryly. "Sounds like something he'd do."

"I raise, push it to fifty-thousand." Takeru tossed out five gold and silver chips, taking his blind and ante chips back.

"Oh boy, he's got a hand again," Sammy said, going back up to the rail. "We just started two table action, he wakes up with a hand. There are starving kids in Norkan who never get hands, and Takeru's getting all of them."

Hikari leaned in closer to the railing, watching as players folded in rapid succession.

"Oh, McDonald was the original raiser," Daryl said quietly, craning his head up to look at the situation on the table. "Yeah, McDonald raised, he's only got...like one eleven behind, he's gotta go in."

Sure enough, when the action swung back around to Matthew McDonald, he needed only a few seconds before waving his hand forward. "I'm all-in."

Takeru took a quick look at his mountain of chips. "I call."

"I kinda want him to turn over three eight offsuit or something," Daisy said. "Show the whole table he has so many chips he doesn't even care."

The graphic bloomed up in the air above the table, revealing the situation both players were in. Takeru held the ace of clubs and jack of clubs. McDonald was armed with the ace of diamonds and the ten of spades.

"Alright!" Hikari bursted out, clapping a few times at the sight.

"There you go!" Daisy said, sidling up next to Hikari. "Now you're getting into it, there you go!" She gave her a small wink. "I did cheerleading when I was at academy, I could teach you some routines. Really get into your support of TK."

Hikari blinked a few times. "Cheerleading?"

Daisy gave a few laughs. "I'll explain later."

The flop flashed up above the table. Three of clubs, queen of clubs, two of diamonds.

"That's a nice flop," Sammy said. "Someone get out another body bag."

The turn was quick to follow, the king of hearts.

"They both need each other's kicker to make a straight," Miyako mused. "Fun little turn card."

The river, however, completed neither straight, the queen of diamonds.

"Tag em and bag em," Sammy said quietly, putting his finger up in the air and running it around in a small circle. "Six hundred and fifty thousand chips, sixteen more to the bracelet."

OOO

"Somehow, Takeru has over a hundred big blinds at THIS stage of the tournament, which is just insane. We've got a few people clinging on by their fingertips, and managing to hang on for two more eliminations is worth just shy of eight thousand dollars, so expect to see them fold every hand they get except for the super premium ones."

Watson flipped in fifteen thousand in chips, holding a queen of diamonds and jack of hearts.

"Watson's actually got over one hundred fifty thousand behind, so he can take chances with a speculative hand."

"Takeru's next to act, on the button with ace ten, both clubs. Seems like a good spot to call, might even be a raise."

Takeru, however, settled for making an offering of a gold and silver chip and five purple chips, taking back his ante in the same motion.

"Nori Suzuki is in the small blind, and he's sitting on about one twenty in chips, and he's got...ace queen of spades!"

"Takeru has enjoyed holding dominating hands in most of his big encounters today, but here HE'LL be the one dominated with a weaker ace, unless he can get away from this."

"Nori re-raises to forty-two grand, he's likely committed to this hand. Heh, Carlos Silva in the big blind has king queen offsuit, so a lot of players have a hand...but Silva decides to get out of the way."

Silva, his cards in the muck, gave Watson the action, who similarly threw his hand away.

"Takeru's got ace ten suited, he's on the button, Suzuki is an active player who COULD be messing around here with a mediocre hand, and he's got all the chips in the world. I think he's at least calling here."

"I'm all-in," Takeru said.

"Takeru wants to cut the field down to thirteen, he shoves!"

"I call," Nori said after a few moments.

"Well, Takeru's behind, but I like the move all the same, if Suzuki had a hand even slightly weaker than ace queen suited he might have folded. Plus, even if he loses this hand he'll have over half a million chips."

"And if he gets lucky and wins this, he'll have just shy of eight hundred thousand chips. Reasonable gamble."

The dealer prepared to put down the board.

"Flop comes...ten, eight, two, Takeru makes top pair and takes the lead!"

"Takeru sucks out more than the world's worst rattlesnake handler. And the worst part for Nori is that both Silva and Watson folded queens, so there's only one queen left in the deck."

Suzuki, on seeing the bad news, stood up, grimacing as the odds were flipped against him. The dealer, no need to wait, put down a turn card of the six of diamonds.

"Just your classic one out with one chance to hit it scenario for Nori. No big deal, right? Shouldn't be too hard."

The river was thrown down, sealing Nori's fate with the four of diamonds.

"That'll do it for Suzuki! He takes home over thirteen thousand dollars in prize money."

The small man went over to Takeru, taking his hand and giving it a quick, silent shake.

"Good playing with you," Takeru said quietly.

OOO

~Takeru~

"You're kidding me!" Takeru pounded his fist lightly on top of the gold pole that supported the railing. "You're the final table bubble boy?!"

Ken gave a shrugging nod. "Hey, I flopped a set, I was getting short, what am I supposed to do?"

"I was so, SO looking forward to crushing you, are you really so terrified of me that you get yourself eliminated right before we get to the same table?" Takeru shook his head in mock disappointment.

"I'm not scared of anything today. I put eighty percent of my chips in on a straight draw earlier, and it WORKED! I'm not scared of anything. I would have shredded your ass so bad too. Breaks my heart." Ken reached forward and clapped his hand on Takeru's shoulder. "Alright, you're the one now, you're gonna have to carry the torch for all of us."

"Phenomenal stuff, my man," Takeru said, leaning in close and giving Ken a quick hug over the rail. "Tenth place has gotta feel good, be proud."

"Just shy of eighteen grand," Ken added. "That feels good too. Now, you've got two hundred seventy grand with your name on it, go get it."

Takeru stepped back from Ken, giving his entire collection of friends a wave. Hido still had not joined, as his stomach could apparently not tolerate Hikari's presence. Everyone else was there, ready to offer him their full support. It wasn't like Takeru needed any additional confidence with eight hundred thousand chips in front of him, but it was appreciated all the same.

Takeru turned around, going over to the table, the only one left in the tournament.

"Congratulations on making the final table." Jack Custer was standing behind the dealer, his gaze sweeping back and forth along all nine remaining players. "You've all done very well to get this far, and have guaranteed yourselves a minimum of twenty four thousand eight hundred and twenty two dollars in prize money. May the best player win, let's shuffle up and deal."

Takeru could feel the nerves of making the final table starting to bubble up inside of him. He had been quite relaxed during this entire tournament, even in the face of veterans and legends of poker, but now that the prize seemed painfully close, and with the pressure of the overwhelming chip lead, it was starting to get a little uneasy for him.

He thought about that twenty-five grand ninth place payout for a moment. Even in that disaster scenario, it was more than enough to justify his time here. Three players were running on vapors, less than fifty thousand chips. He could fall asleep, wake up after they had been ousted, and be guaranteed fifty-seven thousand.

"I'm all-in."

Takeru had been thinking for a little longer than he thought, and while he had been considering his situation, the cards had been dealt out. Quickly, he scanned the table. He was in the cutoff, to the immediate right of the button. A player three seats to his right had shoved his final forty-one thousand into the middle.

Swallowing, he watched the next player fold.

"I'm all-in."

Takeru's neck twitched a bit at the rapid fire action, as another forty-eight thousand was pushed to the middle. Giving himself a quick shake, he reached down and checked his cards.

Ace of diamonds, ace of spades.

He took a second, wondering if he had somehow died and gone to heaven between the rail and the table, staring at the two aces. "Uh, I'm...I'm all-in," Takeru said, waving his hand towards his chip stack.

"Yeah, I think I get the picture here, I'm out." The player to his left mucked, followed quickly by the blinds.

Takeru flipped over his aces, drawing a groan from his right. He glanced over in time to see the ace of clubs and king of diamonds get turned over, then raised his glance a bit to find the first shover holding the two red eights.

"Felt good about this hand too," he muttered. "I should have known better with you sitting to my left."

"Two players all-in," the dealer said, flipping the first three board cards out. Nine of clubs, queen of spades, two of hearts.

"Be a great time for a runner-runner straight."

Takeru looked over at the player to his right. "After the cards I've been getting today, I probably deserve it."

The turn, however, dashed any such hopes by being a meaningless four of hearts.

"Did anybody fold an eight?" the other at-risk player asked, looking around the table. "Actually, don't tell me, I don't wanna know."

A five of spades ended the hand, Takeru's pair of aces the best hand.

"Somedays, it's just your day." The eliminated player extended his hand to Takeru. "Put my chips to good use."

"More than half the chips in play," the other ousted competitor said. "I should have known better than to mess with you."

Takeru let out a long breath of air. Aces was a great way to relief tension.

OOO

"I've got top two pair," Carlos Silva said, turning up a jack and a nine.

Dallas Harper grimaced, patting the felt lightly out of respect to Silva's hand, then threw his cards into the muck. "I can't beat that. You two duke it out."

"And Dallas Harper is eliminated in third place, he takes home over one hundred and forty thousand dollars. We are now to the heads up portion of our tournament."

"With seven players left, it looked like it was going to be a washout, Takeru had over half the chips in play. But, in a shocking turnaround, it was Carlos Silva who started catching the business end of coolers, he was able to personally eliminate every player at this final table with the exception of the initial two that Takeru ousted on the first hand! Takeru does have one point one million in chips, but he does not have the dominant chip lead that he probably expected, Silva has just under nine hundred thousand!"

"Neither of these two players have won a world series bracelet before. In fact this is Takeru's first ever world series tournament. More on that in a second."

A large, dark-skinned man in a suit emerged from a hallway a few tables over, flanked by two men carrying assault rifles. The man in the middle carried a large silver briefcase. The crowd around the table gave the procession a wide birth as they went over to the table, stepping over the railing.

"While the money gets put out on the table, let's go ahead and talk about the elephant in the room. Takeru Ishida, should he win this tournament, would be the twenty-eighth player in world series history to win his or her first ever world series tournament. What's a lot more interesting than that, is that he can become the youngest person to ever win a world series tournament as well!"

"Twenty years and about three months, most players never even have a chance to win a tournament at that age. Not a bad way to kick off your poker career."

"And...that has to be an intimidating sight. Seeing two hundred seventy thousand, three hundred and eighty-three dollars in cold hard cash getting placed out on the felt right in front of you."

"Well, Takeru grew up around a casino, so maybe he's used to it."

"The money has been positioned, and the bracelet goes on top! A platinum band with diamond studs, there's no more prestigous prize in poker, and it could be one hand away from being handed out!"

"Second place might be easier to deal with," Carlos said, looking over at Takeru.

"Hm?" Takeru looked over at his foe.

"Well, it's just...second place gets paid by a direct deposit to their bank account, happens in a flash. With all this money, you gotta get a...a box, and then you gotta carry the box around, and one of the packs of money could come loose." He nodded. "Second place might be better, I dunno."

"Maybe." Takeru gave a small smile. "Of course, when you want to use your winnings to throw a party tonight, you'd have to go withdraw your money, that's a pain. Here, you can just...grab a pack and go, y'know?"

"It's a...it could go either way I guess," Carlos replied, bobbing his head back and forth. "Interesting debate."

"The two remaining players sharing a bit of conversation as the cards get dealt. Here we go, heads up for the bracelet and the largest share of the prize money, Takeru with the chip lead, Silva first to act."

Carlos glanced down at his two cards, being a little less careful as he pried them up since nobody was sitting next to him.

"Ace five, both clubs for Silva. He's already got six thousand committed to this pot, five thousand from his small blind and another thousand from his ante."

"In heads up play, almost any hand is playable, especially from the button. A weak, suited ace is actually a really good hand."

"Min raise." Silva tossed out a gold and silver chip along with four purples.

"Silva pushes in twenty grand total, action over to Takeru. Like we said, almost any two cards are good enough to see a flop when you've only got one opponent, so unless Takeru wakes up with total garbage here he's certainly calling."

"Takeru takes a look at...pocket fours, a couple of sailboats! Small pocket pairs become a very precious commodity heads up."

Takeru reached into the middle of the table, taking back a purple chip and putting in a gold and silver one.

"Takeru calls, we will see a flop."

The dealer produced three cards on the board. King of clubs, four of clubs, seven of diamonds.

"King, four, seven, two clubs! We've got a big flop here, bottom set for Takeru, and the nut flush draw for Silva!"

"This could be it, one way or another."

Takeru pondered his situation for a moment before tapping the table.

"Takeru checks his set, gives the wheel over to Silva."

Silva was quick to check behind, the onus now on the dealer to continue the hand.

"Silva checks behind. Kind of shocking we didn't see a bet there, both players have such huge hands. Takeru's hand is going to be the best hand on that flop a huge percentage of the time, and Silva is drawing to the nuts, you'd usually see some action there. Takeru probably was checking to the preflop raiser and planning to check-raise, Silva wasn't having it."

The dealer put down the jack of hearts.

"And that card is a blank for both players. Takeru still leads with his set."

"Forty thousand," Takeru said, putting out four gold and silver chips.

"Large bet from Takeru, almost the size of the pot. Tough spot for Silva here, he's actually not getting the right price to call. It's not easy to just fold the nut flush draw either, but raising would be an absolute disaster since Takeru has a hand he's never folding, so all three of his options are kind of pants at this point."

"If he could see Takeru's hand face up, he would fold. But if he convinces himself that Takeru only has a king or a jack, he picks up five extra outs and might go ahead and make this call."

Silva slowly extended his hand out over the table, dropping four chips across the line.

"Silva does call. He needs a club on the river, or else he's stuck floating around here with ace high."

"If this river card is the seven of clubs or the jack of clubs, this tournament is over a hundred percent of the time."

The dealer, the burn card tucked away in the dead card pile, put down the nine of clubs.

"The river's a club! Silva makes the absolute nuts on the river."

"Now it's Takeru catching the short end of the cooler, he's the one who's gonna have to get away from this with minimal damage."

"One hundred thousand," Takeru said, grabbing a glinting, platinum chip and flipping it in.

"Well, he's gonna lose at least one hundred thousand more. That bet is designed to discourage Silva from bluffing in case he had a hand like six five or even queen ten. But it's all moot, since Silva isn't bluffing."

"A reasonable raise by Silva will probably get called, he's just trying to figure out the sizing. The pot is two twenty."

"Re-raise. Two hundred and fifty thousand more," Silva said from behind his clasped hands.

"Silva overbets the pot! Now Takeru's the one on his heels."

Takeru blinked a few times, looking down at the community cards, then over to Silva.

"That's a very polarizing bet from Silva. Either he has a flush or he has a straight draw that missed, with really nothing inbetween those two extremes. Takeru's hand is very strong, but it seems like he's starting to sense danger."

Takeru licked his lips.

"Whatever Takeru does here, he's no longer the chip leader, but a call would put him well behind. It's very hard to fold a set in heads up play, but it looks like he's considering it. At the end of the day, he can really only win if Silva is bluffing."

"That is a large bet," Takeru mumbled. Finally, he pitched his cards over to the dealer.

"He lays it down! Takeru gets away from the set and limits the damage!"

"The Ishida kid showing some serious discipline there. With how hot he's been running in this tournament it would have been easy for him to just close his eyes and call, but he realized Silva either had the nuts or he had nothing, and he made the right guess."

"Well, he makes a good fold there, but he still relinquishes the chip lead to Silva. Now has a little more than nine hundred thousand, Silva into seven figures."

"He's still in good shape to win this thing, but this is a pretty remarkable turnaround. Takeru might be feeling a little naked without his chip lead."

As Silva stacked the pot up in front of him, the dealer began to distribute out cards to both.

"This time, it will be Takeru first to act, but he'll have the button for the rest of the hand. And he's got...ten nine offsuit, ten of clubs and nine of diamonds, very playable in heads up."

Takeru, shuffling chips for a brief moment, eventually tossed in three silver and gold pieces of clay in.

"So with his blind and ante, that's a raise to...thirty-six thousand from Takeru. With this hand he's perfectly fine with a call or a fold from Silva."

Silva was next, taking a look down at his cards. A couple of queens.

"Not only does Silva have the chip lead now, but he's also getting big hands. Usually the ladies don't come until after you win the tournament, but Silva is very glad to see them now. You have to wonder if Takeru's golden run is going to peter out just a few hands too early for him to get his hands on that bracelet."

Silva, with a deep breath, reached out and took back his big blind and ante, replacing them with nine silver and gold chips.

"And Silva three-bets it to ninety thousand!"

Takeru rubbed the bridge of his nose, then staring down at his chip stack. "I call." He tossed out six chips, taking back a handful of purple ones, matching the ninety thousand.

"Golden run petering out indeed. Now that Takeru isn't the overwhelming chip leader, he REALLY should have tossed that hand away. It's a little weak to be putting in nearly ten percent of your stack, especially when your opponent just three-bet."

"Takeru in rough shape here, he's got sixteen percent equity as we head to the flop."

The dealer pulled in the chips and placed out the flop. King of diamonds, nine of clubs, jack of spades.

"Aaaand this is the problem with Takeru calling. Now that he's caught a piece of this flop, he's probably going to have to call at least one bet, if not more, and he's still way behind Silva."

"Takeru made a pair of nines, but he still trails Silva's pair of queens. Both players have a straight draw. Takeru needs a queen to make his, but Silva is holding two of the four queens in the deck, so good luck with that. Silva needs a ten, Takeru happens to hold one of those. Takeru actually up a pip to seventeen percent equity."

Silva checked, tapping the table a few times. Takeru was quick to similarly rap his fingers on the felt.

"They both check."

"Good for Takeru, he must have been sorely tempted to bet his bottom pair and hope to end the hand right there. He knows he has to improve somehow in order to take the lead."

The burn card went down face down, and the turn went down face up. Nine of spades.

"Oh, did we say Takeru's golden run was ending? Uh, we meant continuing, the turn gives Takeru trip nines!"

"Sick turn, not only does that give Takeru a near-lock on the hand, Silva probably thinks that was a good card for him. In his mind, if Takeru had a nine, he would have bet the flop."

Silva took one of his platinum, sparkling chips and put it past the yellow line.

"Yup, Silva likes his queens enough to bet a hundred thousand. Gonna be very hard for him to figure this out."

Takeru, only a few seconds of waiting in the books, reached for a platinum disc of his own, offering it over to the dealer.

"Takeru calls. Now, there's no way he'd be calling with nothing, so now Silva has a warning sign. Maybe he's making this call with a jack or a combo draw, but he could certainly have a king, or worst case scenario, a nine. Spoiler alert, it's the worst case scenario."

The river surfaced from the top of the deck. Two of clubs.

"Oof, what a brick. Flush draw missed, straight draws missed. Silva might value bet this since that two couldn't possibly have helped Takeru."

"One fifty," Silva said, gathering up a three-quarter stack of silver and gold.

"About forty percent of the pot from Silva."

"Really nasty spot for Silva here. If he checks, he's just begging for Takeru to bluff at it if he missed his draws, but if Takeru actually DOES have a big hand, this bet is a donation."

Takeru began to organize a few stacks of chips around in front of him, getting together what was apparently a raise.

"Takeru not giving Silva credit for a straight or a full house here, he's getting together a value raise."

Takeru, using both hands, pushed a majority of his chips over the line.

"Takeru pushes it to five hundred and fifty grand!"

"That's a large bet, but it might get paid off. Silva could definitely talk himself into Takeru bluffing here with missed spades."

Silva sighed, grimacing at the massive mound of chips Takeru had just posted.

"Hey Carlos. If it walks like a nine, talks like a nine, and acts like a nine, it might just be a nine! Gotta let this one go."

Silva threw his queens over to the dealer, immediately putting his hands up behind his head and leaning back, a pained look on his face.

"That's a great fold from Silva! He does lose one-third his stack on that hand, but it could have been much worse!"

"We just saw Takeru make a tough fold, now Silva follows up with another tough one, both these guys are in the zone. But Takeru's the one back in the chip lead after just one hand out of it!"

OOO

"I should warn you, back home my friends nicknamed me the short-stack devil," Silva said, smirking over at Takeru.

"I can't say what my friends nicknamed me on television," Takeru replied, putting the final touches on his chip pile.

"Folks, it's just past ten o clock, and we are approaching the end of days. We're thirteen hands into heads up, and Takeru Ishida is on the verge of world series history. His chipstack is now at one point six five million, eighty-four percent of the total chips in play. Silva still has a little over three hundred thousand, but any hand he chooses to play could very well be his last."

"Blinds are now at six thousand and twelve thousand, with an ante of two thousand. Silva's got around thirty bigs, so he has some breathing room to work with, but he really needs to find a spot to double up."

Both players had their hole cards, and Silva was first to act. "Alright...back to work." He pried them up.

"Well, he might have found his spot! He's got pocket kings!"

"Silva's just PRAYING that Takeru has some kind of a hand here, would be brutal to not get paid off."

"Fifty." Silva took his blinds and antes back, throwing out five of the multi-colored chips.

"He's about to find out. With Takeru's chip stack being what it is, he can reasonably call with any half-decent hand."

Takeru, taking a settling breath, looked down at his holdings. Ace of spades, king of diamonds.

"Ace king for Takeru, it's all going in right here!"

Takeru's head slowly tilted up, looking at the wall across from him. "I'm all-in."

"Call," Silva said immediately, turning up his two kings. Takeru looked over, giving him a little nod, showing his hand.

"And there it is, Silva risking his tournament life on his kings! He's in good shape."

"Great spot for Silva to double up, he's got seventy percent equity in the hand. But even if he wins, Takeru will still be the chip leader by a large margin, so it's not a bad gamble for him to try to hit an ace."

The dealer positioned the four cards on the felt next to each other, nodding. "Alright, this could be it, gentlemen."

"There is a buzz going around the table right now, the crowd has sparked to life! Either Takeru Ishida becomes the youngest world series bracelet winner ever, or Carlos Silva gains new life!"

"All Takeru needs to see is an ace to virtually lock up this hand. With the way things have been going today you just expect it to happen."

The burn card flipped to the side, the dealer pulled off the next three cards and quickly whisked them out onto the board. Ace of diamonds, six of spades, four of hearts.

"And there it is! Takeru Ishida hits his ace, and his pair of aces has Silva's pair of kings in serious trouble!"

"The story of the day right there. Takeru plays good, Takeru gets business end of cooler, Takeru gets there."

"Hoo." Silva stood up. "Well, just so you know, if I do hit this one-outer, I'm definitely gonna win this tournament. If it comes, no way I lose."

Takeru smiled and nodded. "Well. Second place payout is pretty good."

"There's only one king left in the deck, Silva has to find it or this one is over. Turn card, is the six of diamonds, no help."

"You seem very calm for someone about to break a world series record," Silva noted, looking over at Takeru. "You're still sitting down!"

"Well, see how I am after one more card," Takeru replied, hungrily looking over at the eleven packs of cash.

"One chance to hit a king for Silva." The river came, a three of clubs.

"No king on the river, and Takeru wins the one thousand dollar no limit holdem event!"

Takeru stood up from his chair, thrusting his arms up into the air, looking up at the ceiling. Carlos Silva came over and extended his hand towards Takeru, who quickly took it and gave it a shake. Silva stepped away just in time for the entire collection of Takeru's cheering section to surround the champion in a mob.

"And Takeru is quickly surrounded by his friends and supporters! What a moment for the twenty-year-old!"

"Silva will be taking home over one hundred and ninety five thousand, but Takeru gets the bracelet AND a shade over two hundred and seventy grand. Pass the sugar!"

"I knew you were capable of this," Daisy said, her voice just barely audible over the cacaphony of noises coming from the small crowd. "I didn't know it'd happen so fast though!"

"They can't ever take this away from you!" Ken chimed in. "Whatever happens now, you're a bracelet winner!"

"Thanks so much, everyone," Takeru said. "You guys, you guys have supported me for years, it's all led up to something like this. This is so great!"

"Takeru soaking in his victory here, well deserved. And here comes Erin Parker swooping in with a microphone, going to get a few words out of the newly minted bracelet winner."

"Excuse me!" A woman with short brown hair and a black uniform came up to the conglomeration of people, gathered right by the table. "Excuse me, Takeru, could I get a word?"

Takeru managed to wriggle his way through the circle of people, cramming himself next to the reporter. "Yeah, sure."

"Takeru, you cut through a field of nearly two thousand people to win this tournament, your first ever official poker tournament, how'd you do it?"

"Uh...well, honestly, you know, a huge part of this game is the cards you get. At the end of the day, yeah, skill matters a lot and all that, but you have to get the right cards, and...if most of the players here were getting the cards I was getting, I think they could have won this thing too. But I was the one getting the cards, I was able to put them to good use, and here I am."

"You told us earlier that you planned to play in as many world series events as you could. Does that plan change now that you've won this one?"

Takeru shook his head. "Not at all, this...this gives me even more desire to play as much as I can. Plan doesn't change at all, I'm going to try to play in every event except one drop."

Erin nodded. "I notice a lot of your friends and supporters were entrants into this event as well, and most of them had successful runs. What are you guys doing that allows you all to play so well?"

"We constantly compete against each other, drive each other to be better, and the end result is that we're all capable of playing very well." Takeru turned and pointed at the group behind him. "That's all there is to it, there's no substitute for competition."

"One last question. I don't want to start a tabloid column gossip line unless I have a good reason for it." She pointed over towards the grouping of Takeru's friends, at the short, brown-haired girl standing on the left end. "So I'll give you a chance to set the story straight. This lovely young woman hasn't stopped watching you since this tournament started, hasn't left the rail for more than a couple minutes at a time. She wasn't playing in the tournament. So, Mister Ishida, are you taken? Is this your special girl?"

Takeru thought for a moment. "Uh...no, no. Actually..." he turned over towards Hikari, waving his hand towards her. "Come over here, Hikari, real quick."

Slowly, trepidatiously, Hikari came around from behind Daisy, walking over to her owner.

"This is Hikari, she...she works in my father's casino." Takeru swallowed down hard. "And...I gotta give her due credit, I brought her along with me to the world series because...well, she's good luck for me."

"Oh, I see," Erin said.

"Yeah, that's the only way to put it. When she's around, things go my way over and over again, and after what just happened in this tournament, I can't say anything else." He reached over and clapped Hikari on the shoulder, pulling her closer to him. "When she's around, nothing bad happens to me on the felt it seems like. Call her my good luck charm. So I guess I owe this bracelet to her."

Takeru reached over, grabbing the circular, flexible band of platinum and diamond, raising it up into the air.

OOO

~Takeru~

Hikari pulled the cork from the top of the bottle with a loud pop.

"I can't believe you actually said that on national television!" Ken leaned in towards Takeru's face. "Good luck? She's your good luck charm?"

"I didn't know you were so corny," Sammy agreed, seated on the right seat of a small couch. "Just out of nowhere, you decide you believe in that stuff?"

The ten individuals had shuffled off to a nightclub just down the street from The Horseshoe, getting a small area to themselves near the back. There was no way that they could let this momentum occurance pass by without some sort of celebration, so they had all agreed to share a quick drink. It was a pretty simple place, and they had secured a little square of real estate with a small couch and a few other cushioned chairs, as well as a glass table. Hikari had begun using that small table to pour out drinks from a large clear glass bottle.

"Yeah, you just come right out and say it in front of cameras. Like, that's public record now, you can't take it back, you can't pretend you didn't say it." Daryl laughed. "A lifetime of saying you don't care for superstition, down the drain the moment you step in front of a camera."

"What do you want me to say?" Takeru pointed at Hikari, who was finishing her duties up. "You guys pointed it out, things go my way when she's around, so I took her here, and...well, look! Am I just gonna pretend it's not happening? I gotta at least acknowledge it!"

"Who are you and what the hell did you do to my friend?" Akira asked, leaning in close to Takeru's face.

"This isn't going away, by the way," Yuma said, bending down to grab one of the little glasses. "You're gonna be hearing shit from me for awhile about this, and I doubt I'll be the only one."

"Hey, I don't care!" Takeru said animatedly. "You can make fun of me, like I care, you see this?!" He raised his right arm up in the air, the sleeve of his suit jacket rolling back up his arm a bit, exposing a sparkling band latched on his wrist. "This? You see this? This is a license to not give a crap if you make fun of me!"

"I can't argue with that," Sammy acknowledged, standing up to get a better look at the shimmering piece of jewelry. "My God, it's actually real. I mean, that actually happened, my best friend won a world series bracelet!"

"Alright guys, we had a deal. I'm the first to win a bracelet, so I'm the Godfather now. Everyone pay your respects to the Godfather." He held his arm out.

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you're a real Godfather alright." She grabbed Takeru's wrist and went down on one knee, pulling the bracelet close to her face and kissing it.

"I wouldn't mind kissing it too," Ken said, pointing down at it as Daisy released Takeru's arm and stood back up straight. "Not because I give a crap about you or respect you or anything, I just think it's beautiful."

"Hey, you keep playing like you played the last two days, you'll be able to wear one every day for the rest of your life if you want." Takeru pointed at Ken. "I mean, obviously you'll need me to get hospitalized or something, but hey, it could happen."

"Don't give Ken any ideas," Miyako chimed in, taking a glass from the table. "He might just do it."

"Hey, Hikari, you know half that bracelet is yours, right?" Sammy grinned, pointing at the wrist jewelry. "You heard what TK said, you've got a fifty percent claim. And he's gotta give you half the prize pool too."

"Takeru worked very hard and played very well. All I did was sit there. He deserves every bit of it," Hikari said firmly.

"See?" Takeru gestured at Hikari. "She knows what's up. This girl, she knows what's going on. She's the only one who knows how to show me the respect I'm due."

"I still feel like this is a long, complicated, ridiculous ploy on his part to annoy me," Hido said darkly, sitting on one of the fat cushioned chairs. "And it's working, and I don't appreciate it."

"Oh come on, let it go," Takeru said dismissively. "You didn't even want her anyway, you were about to dispose of her, I took her off your hands. And now she's a productive member of society, you should be happy."

"Good luck charm," Hido said derisively, rolling his eyes. "What other line of bullshit will you come up with to justify keeping her around?"

"Also, TK, I hate to break it to you, but Hikari only shows you respect because she has to." Ken held his glass up in the air. "Alright, we've got Omaha in the morning, let's drain these glasses and get to bed."

"Hey, looks like we got tracked." Miyako pointed towards the entrance of the nightclub, behind Takeru's back. He turned around to find about a dozen strangers, standing a short distance away from the square of space they had cut out for themselves, all of their eyes on Takeru. "I recognize a couple of them from the tournament."

"Hey, uh...this the...the post-tournament party?" one of them asked, pointing down at the floor. "It's a...I dunno, a little small."

"No, no party," Takeru said firmly, waving his hands towards the group of strangers. "I'm just having a drink with my friends, no party."

"No party? You just won a bracelet!" another one of them chimed in, almost condescendingly. "What are you talking about?"

"I have an Omaha tournament to play in that starts in eight hours, no party!" Takeru turned back to his friends. "Okay, let's get these drinks in our stomachs, I wanna get out of here before more people get the wrong idea."

The nine players raised their glasses into the air, then drained the contents into their mouths as one.

"Okay, five thousand dollar bottle down the hatch," Takeru said quickly, turning towards the entrance. "See you all tomorrow."

OOO

~Hikari~

"Sorry about that...reporter woman. Really not an appropriate question to ask." Takeru closed the door to the hotel room behind him, kicking off his shoes as he did so. "I just don't want to make it look like I'm some kind of confrontational guy in my moment in the spotlight, so I just let it go."

Hikari kneeled down on the floor, unlacing her sandals and pulling them off. "Not at all, sir. If anything I'm...I'm flattered that someone could assume that."

Takeru smiled. "In my wildest dreams, I didn't think this would happen." He pointed at his bracelet. "This is...this is unreal. I mean, I don't know if...if you did this, but if you did, thank you."

"I didn't do anything, sir," Hikari replied, nevertheless unable to supress a small smile of her own. It was exciting, to be credited at all for such a remarkable achievement. She had been empowered more than she had even thought conceivable in recent weeks, and this story from Takeru about being a good luck charm was just adding to that. It made her feel wanted.

Takeru let out a quick breath. "Hey, how about some action?"

Hikari, who had taken a couple steps towards the staircase across the main room, twisted her head to look at her owner. "I'm sorry, sir?"

"Uh, action." Takeru pointed up at the door to the bedroom on the second level. "I don't have to be up for another...six and a half hours, let's go for it." He gestured his head up towards the door. "I'll be up there in about...five minutes?"

"...oh." Hikari felt her mouth suddenly dry up. "R-right. Yes sir."

"You sure?" Takeru's brow furrowed a bit. "You sound a little down."

"Uh, I'm just...I'm tired, sir, I'm sorry." Hikari nodded.

"Understandable." Takeru walked over to Hikari's side, clasping her shoulder with his right hand. "Hey, don't worry about it too much, just do what the Angels trained you to do and you'll be fine. I know it's intimidating, but I'm not here to grade your performance or anything." He gave her a reassuring pat. "See you up there."

Hikari nodded, Takeru sweeping away from her, headed towards the bathroom. He didn't see her give a little sigh or grimace. Just as well. If he had decided to pry into her discomfort, she didn't even really know what she would say, if she could say anything at all.

She slowly walked over to the staircase, a knot having cinched up a bit in her stomach. Serve Takeru and have sex with people. Those two things were, quite literally, her job. And this was both things at the same time. So why this sour feeling?

Well, whatever it was, she had five minutes to get over it.

OOO

Panting heavily, skin flushed red, Hikari laid down flat on the right edge of the bed, body heaving up and down.

"See? Nothing to it," Takeru said, rolling himself up into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. "You were good, nothing to it."

Hikari blinked a few times, eyes rotating over to look at him. His head was twisted around, looking at her, giving her an easy smile. She somehow found it unsettling, though she wasn't sure why.

"You feeling okay?" Takeru twisted his body around, going onto his knees, towering over her prone figure.

"Yes, sir," she replied, partially lying. Physically, it was a very pleasurable experience for her. It was like the other girls said. He was experienced, and it showed. Yes, physically, it was everything it was billed to be.

But there was something that just wasn't right.

"Alright, tank is back on full, see you in the morning." Takeru leapt off the bed, throwing on a thin, blue bathrobe.

He was so carefree and casual. He had just had sex with her. Listening to him talk to her, he could just as easily have finished eating a steak, or have just crossed the street. It almost made her angry, an emotion she rarely had the time to feel in her life.

She swallowed it down. "Good night, sir," she said, worming her body up so her head was on the pillow. Now was not the time to rock the boat, she could recognize that. Still, as Takeru closed her bedroom door and Hikari rolled over onto her side, she was positive that there was something quite distasteful about what she had just participated in.

Hopefully, nothing a night of sleep wouldn't resolve. 


	12. Big Blind Special

Chapter 12: Big Blind Special

"So wait a minute," Daisy said. "So, you worked on Hido's farm. A FARM. And you never got to eat any of the food?"

Hikari shook her head mutely.

"See, what kind of sense does that make?" Daisy leaned back in her chair, frowning a bit. "I understand, slaves get what they get, but on a freaking farm, food is the one thing that you'd have a lot of. You don't need to buy it, it's already there!" She shot a bit of a glance over at Hido, seated on the other side of the large circular table. "Throw some of the deformed-looking fruits and veggies into the barracks every night, toss a few slabs of beef on top of it, boom."

Hido's lip curled downward, visibly annoyed, turning away to look down at the floor. "No point. Protein blocks have everything a person needs to stay alive and functional."

"Oh my God, protein blocks, you seriously use those things?" Daisy scowled a bit. "That's...do you even know how those things are made?"

"Of course I know," Hido replied quietly. "I mean, it works, right?" He pointed at Hikari. "She's still alive, isn't she? My family's farm is still in business, right? That wouldn't be happening if the slaves were all dropping dead of malnutrition or whatever. And stop talking to me like it's my decision, my father makes all the decisions anyway."

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you know, I think I could sit here all day and just...show Hikari the entire world of foods that she's missed out on in her life." She looked over at Hikari. "I just think that sort of thing is fun, there's so many great foods out there, and it's just so cool to show them to someone who's never gotten to try them before, see what they like." She looked up at the wall of the small restaurant, up at a wall clock. "How much time do we have?"

"Probably not a good idea to get too far into it," Sammy said. "We gotta be back in our seats in forty minutes."

"Yeah, I know, but she should try something fun." Daisy reached up to put her hand on Hikari's shoulder. "What do you wanna have? What sounds good to you?"

Hikari wasn't flushing red now. Less than a month ago, to so much as hear someone talking about her for a second would stress her out. A couple weeks ago, it would have embarrassed her. Now, there was a feeling of warmth from hearing people who had genuine interest in her. It was enough to put her issues with the events of the previous night to rest in her mind, at least for the moment. What happened back in the hotel room wasn't going to damper her ability to enjoy what happened here with these surprisingly nice people.

It had been another early start for Takeru and his friends, getting up to participate in another tournament. Hikari had dutifully shown up to watch Takeru. This time, the game had changed slightly, and despite her best efforts to pick up on this poker variation, she found herself a bit confused by what was apparently called 'Omaha'. With the tournament on lunch break, the group had split off to a small restaurant, getting a large booth together.

"I don't know what any of this stuff is, so surprise me," Hikari said. "Whatever you think I might like, I have no idea what I'd like."

"Just be careful." Takeru, who had stepped away from the table for a moment, sat back down in his chair to the left of Hikari. "Don't get too extreme, her stomach could have trouble handling some more extreme stuff."

"How's your parents?" Yuma asked, looking over at Takeru.

"They're pretty estatic," Takeru replied.

"I'm surprised they didn't call you last night," Miyako said.

"The broadcast is delayed about an hour, they didn't know I had won until I was already in bed," Takeru explained. "But yeah, they're over the moon." He smirked. "Had to explain to my dear mother that it doesn't always go this well. You know, I don't want her expecting me to come home in two months with...five bracelets or something absurd."

"What's the point of even having parents if they don't push you hard?" Ken said. "Five bracelets, why not? That would only break the single year record by...what, two?" He made a raspberry noise with his tongue.

"Alright, uh...what was the field size at the start?" Takeru leaned back in his chair. "Five hundred and..."

"Five hundred and twenty one," Ken finished.

"Wow." Takeru nodded. "Not far away from the money then. Man these thousand dollar tournaments move fast."

"I thought there'd be more people," Akira said.

"I think a lot of people think that a thousand dollar buyin tournament is beneath them," Daryl said. "Plus, some of the big tournaments over in Panok are still going, some of the pros are still involved over there."

"Okay." Takeru leaned forward again, looking at Hikari. "I totally forgot, slipped my mind, I never explained Omaha to you." He glanced up at the clock. "While we wait for our food, I'll break it down for you."

"That would probably help a lot, sir," Hikari said, nodding. Despite what had happened the previous night, she couldn't let it get her down too much. This was still a dream for her, a hundred times better than anything she had ever experienced in her life. She couldn't be mad at Takeru. At least, not right now.

"Right." Takeru reached into the inside of his jacket pocket, pulling out a deck of cards. "It's not too bad. Omaha is exactly the same as Holdem, with one exception." He fanned the deck out in front of him, pulling four cards from it. "At the start, every player gets dealt four cards instead of two." He placed the four cards up on the table. Ace of spades, ace of diamonds, king of spades, king of diamonds.

"Everything else plays out the same way, but here's the twist." He took the two aces he had placed out, pushing them up about an inch towards Hikari. "Each player can only use two of their four cards. And they have to use exactly two." He motioned his hand out towards the cards. "So, right now, if this was your hand, your hand would be two aces. The two kings don't count, since the two aces make the best hand." He then pulled three cards from the deck and put them out on the table. King of hearts, four of spades, nine of clubs.

"However, the two cards a player is using can change at any point during the hand if it benefits them." He pushed the aces back down the table an inch, then pushed the kings up. "So if this was the flop, your hand would change. You would now be playing the two kings, since you could use the two kings with the king on the flop to make three kings, and now your aces wouldn't play." He pulled the ace of hearts from the deck and put it down on the board next. "And if this was the turn card, it would switch back." He pulled the kings down and pushed the aces up. "Now you'd be playing the two aces again, since three aces is the best hand you can make."

Hikari's forehead wrinkled. "The game was...complicated enough as it is," she said quietly.

"Yeah, it's a tricky game. Tough to figure out what your hand is sometimes, it takes practice and discipline." He scooped up the four community cards, put them back in the deck, then placed out five cards. Three of spades, four of spades, five of spades, six of spades, seven of spades. "For instance, let's say this was the board. Obviously, that's a straight flush, but you're not allowed to play the board. You have to use exactly two of your hole cards to make a hand. So even though there's a straight flush on the board, you can't play it."

"Thank you, sir," Hikari said as Takeru scooped up the deck.

"Betting is a tiny bit different too," Ken added. "At any point, you're only allowed to bet the size of the pot at most. So if there's currently ten thousand in a pot, you can only bet or raise ten thousand or less."

"I just decided," Daisy said suddenly, her head snapping up from the menu. "An Italian, six inch. Very simple, just a sandwich, but a very nice lunch. You'll like it."

OOO

"And with that last elimination, we're down to seventy-nine participants in the One Thousand Dollar Pot Limit Omaha World Series event. We're fast approaching the money, as players are dropping like flies, though it might slow down just a bit now that we're almost to the bubble."

"Right. Again, sixty-five players will cash here, pulling from a prize pool totaling four hundred sixty-eight thousand nine hundred dollars. Perhaps a little on the small-ish size compared to the prize pools of most of the other tournaments we have here, part of the reason being that a lot of the Omaha specialists are still playing the massive tournaments over in Panok, or even some of the big cash games. To them, a tournament like this is small potatoes."

"Yeah. Sometimes you'll see cash game pots bigger than the entire prize pool here. But it's still a nice tournament, and there's still a bracelet at the end for the winner."

The dealer began to distribute out cards to each player face down.

"We're at table three here, only nine tables left. John Lang's here in seat five, he's got the tournament chip lead with fifty-five thousand. Also here is Takeru Ishida, he's got a reasonable stack of eleven thousand, of course he's the one who won the thousand dollar Holdem last night."

"The kid clearly knows how to play Holdem, but he's also showing himself to be a capable Omaha player."

Takeru slowly rifled through his hand, checking his four cards. Ace of clubs, nine of clubs, nine of hearts, eight of hearts.

"Well, Takeru's in the cutoff here, he's got a reasonable hand, he might decide to play. Blinds are at two hundred and four hundred, average stack size is just over six thousand, any hand you play could be your last."

"One thousand." Takeru tossed a purple chip into the pot.

"He's going to raise to one thousand. And you know Chris, reasonable hand is a good way of putting it. His hand does have some potential, and given that the action folded around to him in the cutoff, I think this is a good raise, but if he gets re-raised here, I think he should probably throw this one away. This is one area where Holdem players really struggle when transitioning to Omaha."

"Well, Peter Surrey looks down at king eight five two, all different suits, he'll get rid of that hand like it's radioactive. Corey Phelps has junk in the small blind, he folds, so it's up to Mallory Cantu from the big blind."

A tall girl with a brown ponytail looked down at her hand. King of hearts, queen of hearts, eight of spades, eight of diamonds.

"Mallory only has four thousand chips left, she'll have to put in six hundred to play this hand. Her hand is...also pretty reasonable, she might be willing to see the flop."

"She is already getting short on chips, it's not fun to commit chips to a pot when your hand is marginal."

After several seconds, Cantu reached out and took her blinds back, before putting in one purple chip.

"She does call. And, Donald, when you say Holdem players really struggle with this area of Omaha, what do you mean by that?"

"Well, the struggle is about relative hand strength. You can have a hand in Holdem and be very confident that that's the best hand, but you could get the exact same hand in Omaha, and you can't have anywhere near that same amount of confidence. So Takeru is double-suited here with two clubs and two hearts, he's got a pair of nines, he has an ace, and he has the potential start of a straight with the eight and nine, so he's got good cards, but it's not a monster yet. Cantu has two big hearts and the two eights, which is passable, but she has to flop well."

The dealer put down three cards. Nine of diamonds, seven of hearts, six of hearts.

"And here's our flop, it's a pretty good one for both players! Takeru currently has a set of nines, he's also flopped a straight draw. He has an eight and a nine, there's a seven and six on board, any five or ten gives him a straight. He's also got a heart flush draw, but that's actually no good. Cantu has also flopped pretty well, she has the same straight draw as Takeru, plus she has a bigger heart flush draw. So Takeru's got the best of it right now, but Mallory could easily end up chopping this pot by making her straight, or winning it by making her flush."

"Yeah, good flop for both, but as of now it's a dangerous one for Mallory. She has to like her hand, but she's actually behind. And if the board pairs, she's drawing dead against a full house or quads. They say in Omaha, it's often better to have a monster drawing hand than a moderate made hand, since there are so many ways to hit a big draw, but in this case, Takeru's made hand is in the lead."

Mallory, taking her time to consider her choices, tapped the felt a few times.

"Mallory checks. Kind of surprising, with a draw that big she should probably be pushing the action. If she does have some sort of sixth sense that she's behind, good for her."

"So anyway, while Takeru makes his decision here. One way to think about Omaha is that, in a way, every player has six hands they're playing. In Holdem, you have one hand, the two cards you get dealt. In Omaha, you get dealt four cards that can be combined into six different hands, and you choose whichever one of those six is best for you at any given time. So because of that, a player is much less likely to have nothing at the end of an Omaha hand, and it's also much more likely that someone has a monster."

"Two thousand," Takeru said, dropping two purple chips across the yellow line.

"Takeru makes a bet. Mallory has to just go all-in here, and Takeru has to call, don't see any way around it."

"In Holdem, one pair hands will often be the best hand. In Omaha, a one pair hand is almost never the winning hand. Two pair hands, generally pretty reliable in Holdem, are very vulnerable in Omaha. Hands like straights and flushes are still strong, but if they're not the best possible straight or flush, it's very dicey. In Omaha, if you're not holding the nuts, you can never feel too good about your chances."

"All-in," Cantu said quietly.

"Call," Takeru snapped, waving his hand forward towards the middle of the table.

"And there it is! Takeru puts Cantu's tournament life at risk, and he's got the best of it right now."

Both players flipped up their cards, pushing them over towards the dealer.

"Alright, to recap, Takeru is holding a set of nines and has an open-ended straight draw. Cantu has the same open-ended straight draw, and also has a king high flush draw, which beats Takeru's nine high flush draw, should a third heart come."

The dealer, after setting up all the cards in front of her, burned and turned over a three of spades.

"Turn card is a big flat blank, three of spades changes nothing, Takeru in the driver's seat! Cantu needs to see any heart except the three of hearts to win the hand, or a ten or five to chop! Otherwise, we're down to seventy-eight players."

The dealer tapped the table a few times, burned a card, then placed out the three of hearts.

"Oooof, bit of rough luck there!"

Mallory almost bounced out of her seat, then grimaced down hard.

"Mallory DOES hit her heart, making a king high flush, BUT that three also paired the board. Takeru's five card hand is now the two nines in his hand, the nine on the board, and the two threes on the board, giving him a full house, which beats Mallory's flush! I think she just realized that the board paired."

"Good hand," Mallory said, standing up and walking around the table, going over to Takeru. "Didn't have much of a choice there." She put her hand out towards him. Takeru took it, shaking it.

"You played very well," Takeru said. "You hung around for awhile with a short stack, you played great."

"Takeru and Mallory sharing pleasantries, and we're down to seventy-eight."

OOO

~Hikari~

"Nuts," Miyako announced, turning over her four cards. Ace of spades, ten of spades, queen of hearts, two of hearts.

"Ace high spade flush takes it," the dealer announced, reaching towards the board and pushing three of the five cards up. King of spades, nine of spades, six of spades.

"I figured as much." The player two seats to her right stood up, grabbing his jacket off the back of the seat. "Good hand."

Hikari stood up on tiptoes, looking over the heads of the crowd around table two the best she could, just barely managing to make out Miyako shaking hands with another player.

"Oh, I'm just so confused, darling!" Ken called out from the railing behind Miyako. "I thought you didn't know how to play Omaha! I don't know, sweetie, that looks like a lot of chips for someone who doesn't know how to play, that's kinda weird, don't you think?"

Miyako turned around to Ken and stuck her tongue out at him. Ken gave a small laugh, spinning away from the rail and walking over to table one, towards Hikari.

"Doesn't know how to play Omaha. The things that come out of her mouth." He went up next to Hikari on the railing of table one, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. "Can you believe the things that come out of her mouth?"

Hikari stared blankly at Ken, not really sure how to reply.

"Man, this is so great. Now she HAS to do all the other Omaha events." Ken turned towards the railing. "So, how's the wunderkind doing?"

"Oh, uh...fine, I think." Hikari scratched the back of her head. "Such a complicated game, still having a hard time with it."

"Yeah, it's a real learning curve." Ken nodded, peering over at Takeru. "Actually, he's looking a little shallow. What is that...thirty thousand left in front of him?"

"Pot," Takeru announced, pushing in a large stack of chips in.

"Re-pot," the player to his left replied almost immediately.

Takeru visibly swallowed down hard. "You've got me covered, right?"

"Yeah, I think so." The man began counting his chips. "I've got like sixty-eight thousand altogether."

"Yeah." Takeru nodded. "Well, can't go anywhere now. I'm all-in."

"I'm calling," his opponent announced. Takeru made to push his entire chip pile in, slowly pressing the stacks over the yellow line.

"All-in and a call," the dealer said. "Gentlemen, good luck."

A graphic popped up above the table. Takeru held the jack of spades, ten of spades, five of clubs, and the four of clubs. His opponent, Garry Smith, was armed with the king of diamonds, queen of hearts, seven of clubs, seven of hearts.

The flop was next to be shown. King of spades, queen of spades, two of hearts.

"Oh, wow, what a flop," Ken said, giving a small chuckle. Hikari looked up at it, trying to decipher it. Ken pointed up at it. "Look, Takeru has a royal flush draw."

The comment from Ken brought Hikari's mind back to that day a month ago, when a royal flush had won her an escape from Hido.

"Alright. We need an...an ace or a nine for a straight, any spade for a flush. Garry's got two pair, kings and queens."

"Feels like you've got every out in the deck," Garry mused, looking down at all the cards. "Can't say I'm loving this."

"Well, I'm the one with all my chips in," Takeru replied. "I'd rather have some behind."

The dealer put down the turn card. Ten of diamonds.

"Okay, well, more outs now." Ken clapped a couple times. "Now we need any ace, any nine, any spade or any ten."

"I dunno man, you won that bracelet yesterday," Garry said. "Like, spiritually, it doesn't feel great for me here. Way too many cards I have to dodge here, I'd like my odds against most players, but not against a guy who just won a bracelet."

"I wish it worked like that," Takeru said, a bit of a laugh in his voice. "Alright, let's see it." Takeru stood up from his seat. "Give me a reason to sit down again."

The dealer put down the final card. Queen of clubs.

Takeru gave a tiny little grunt, then squated down a bit towards the ground before standing back up. "Alright, good playing man." He reached his hand out towards Garry.

"You're something else," Garry said, taking his hand and shaking it. "You're twenty years old and you're doing all this, that's terrifying to a guy like me."

"Good luck man." Takeru quickly walked away from the table, over to the rail behind what was previously his seat.

"Had every draw on the planet," Ken said, stepping back so Takeru could step over the rail. "Tough way to brick out."

"I don't think anyone cares to hear me complain about anything right now," Takeru replied. "What's going on?"

"Miyako's got one hundred and ten thousand," Ken said. "She's playing so good man, it's amazing, she didn't even want to play in this event."

Takeru clapped a couple times. "Well, at least I got something to watch tonight." He looked over at Hikari. "So, figured the game out yet?"

"Not really, sir," she replied honestly. "But I think I'm...making progress. I'm sorry you didn't win."

"Hey, don't even say that," Takeru said quickly. "I AM winning. This is amazing, all of this, beyond my wildest dreams. I'm playing so good, it's unreal."

"Excuse me, sir!" A woman was standing out in the pathway, a little bit away from the two remaining tables, holding a microphone in her hand. She was waving towards Takeru. "Could I get you for a moment, Mister Ishida?" Hikari recognized her as the same woman who had interviewed Takeru the previous day.

"Got it," Takeru replied, quickly shuffling through the crowd around the railing to get away from the throng of observers, towards the woman. "I'm coming."

Hikari followed him out, watching him get up next to the woman, a small camera crew standing about ten feet away from her, ready to film.

"Alright, we've just lost Takeru Ishida from the Thousand Dollar Pot Limit Omaha event in twelfth place," she started. "Takeru will take home a prize of six thousand three hundred and thirty dollars. Takeru, can you talk me through that last hand real quick?"

Takeru nodded. "Yeah, uh, there's not much to it. I caught a dream flop for my hand, I had so many different ways I could make a monster hand on the turn or river, so as soon as I saw it, I knew I was going to go with it one way or another. Garry had a hand that he was never going to fold, and he had me outchipped, so I had to gamble. If my draws always got there, I'd win every hand, and nobody would play with me, so this is just how it goes. I knew I was probably getting into a coinflip situation, but I can live with that."

"Twelfth place in a tournament of over five hundred players is obviously very good, but it must hurt to go out just a few spots away from the final table. Any regrets on maybe not playing a little tighter until we got the final nine?" She put the microphone up to Takeru's face.

"No, no regrets," Takeru answered. "Making the final table is great, the money jumps are great, but I have to play my game. Yeah, maybe I could just fall asleep for an hour and make the final table, but then I'd barely have any chips and couldn't play an effective game, and I'd almost definitely go out quickly. I'm playing to give myself the best chance to win the bracelet. If I win that hand just now, I've got a lot of chips, I give myself a great chance at winning the tournament. That's the goal."

"Amazing start to his first ever world series. Takeru Ishida everyone, thanks for stopping by." She nodded, smiling up at him.

"Alright, I've got a friend who's still in, I'm gonna go watch the rest." Takeru turned away from her. "Miyako Inoue," he said over his shoulder. "Treat her good in the interview."

OOO

~Takeru~

"Oh boy."

Cade Stamos put his hands on top of his head, leaning way back in his chair.

There were seven players and one dealer surrounding the singular table remaining in the tournament. As was customary at a final table, they had all been moved into a side room to better accomodate the large audience. There were rows of bleacher-style seating going all around, ascending towards the ceiling the further away they were from the table, allowing for all viewers to get a good look at the table.

Right now, those viewers were silent, watching the action on the table.

Miyako sat on the seat to the right of the dealer, arms folded on the edge of the felt, a couple silver and gold chips out past the yellow line in front of her.

"I mean...my hand's not that great or anything," Cade said, pushing his long brown hair back. "But man...you're playing a lot of hands, are you really getting monsters this much?"

Miyako didn't answer, sitting there silently, not doing anything to give away information.

"What do you think?" Akira whispered into Ken's ear, leaning over towards his friend, Takeru's ears perking up from the seat next to Ken.

"I, uh, I think Miyako's been bluffing a lot in this tournament," Ken replied, keeping his voice down. "She's been playing a lot of hands, I definitely think she's playing loose. Kind of a dry board too. I think she's trying to get him to lay down, like...a pair. I think he's got a good pair, I don't think she has anything."

"Alright." Cade picked his cards up. "This is the kind of stuff I always do in Omaha that gets me in trouble." He threw his cards over to the dealer. "I'm letting it go."

The entire section of seating around Takeru erupted into applause as a modest pot was pushed to Miyako, Takeru joining in.

"Yeah, I think she had nothing, I really do," Ken continued to speak in a low voice. "It's working out well for her, Omaha is a great game to bluff in."

Takeru turned to his right, looking at Hikari. "What do you think?" he asked with a little grin.

Hikari spun her head around to look at Takeru. "U-uh...well...sir, I...I don't think she had anything either," she said quickly.

"What makes you say that?" Sammy asked, leaning up from one row below Takeru. "The sizing, right? Cade bet too small on the turn, made him look weak, Miyako decided to make a move. That's what I was thinking."

Hikari swallowed down hard. "W-well...no. I just think that...if anyone has a chance to know, it'd be...well, her boyfriend." She pointed at Ken. "So I...I just agree with whatever he thinks."

Takeru keeled over a bit, chuckling. "That's a...that's actually a real good answer." He nodded. "Yeah, I like that."

"Thank you, Hikari," Ken said quietly.

Takeru leaned in towards Hikari a bit. "So, she's pretty cool, isn't she? Miyako? Don't you think?"

"I think all your friends are cool, sir," Hikari replied softly, jolting a tiny bit as soon as the words were out of her mouth. "Uh, well, I..."

"Oh, you mean Hido?" Takeru said, turning over his left shoulder to look up behind him, Hido seated there. "Hey, Hido," he hissed, tapping his leg. "Hikari says she doesn't think you're cool."

Takeru could almost feel the heat from Hikari's body elevate. He turned to look at her, seeing that she had gone red and shrunken down a little bit, trying to use Takeru's body as a shield from Hido.

"Oh my God, dude, seriously?" Hido groaned, glancing over at Hikari over Takeru's shoulder. "Look, I'm trying to swallow my personal feelings and be here for my friend." He gestured down towards Miyako. "I'm being a good sport, being here, trying to deal with it, can you not? Bad enough I have to listen to your crap about how this stupid cow is...good luck for you or whatever."

"I just thought you should know, she doesn't think your cool. You should do something about that," Takeru continued.

"Unreal," Hido grunted, looking back over towards the table. "Unreal, the nonsense I have to listen to." His nose wrinkled. "You know what, whatever. The stuff I did to her and her brother, there's no recovering from all that. You know, that might be worse than just dying, living on as damaged goods." He puffed out a large breath. "You and your brother will never get over those six months, disposing of you two would have been a mercy anyway."

Hikari gulped down hard, staring down at the floor at her feet. "A...actually...my brother's made a full recovery," she said quietly. Hido looked over at her, a little surprised to hear her speaking. "So...if he's been able to get over what you did to him...it should be really easy for me."

"Very nice," Takeru said, patting her knee. Hido just rolled his eyes and looked away. "I like that. See?" He pointed up behind him at Hido. "He can't do anything, you can say whatever you want."

She gave a small smile, clearly gleaning some amount of enjoyment from her snappy response.

"All-in."

"Call."

Takeru's eyes snapped up to the table, analysing the situation in a second. Miyako didn't have a hand in front of her, not a part of the current activity. A large mountain of chips were in the pot, with the players at seat two and seat six having cards in front of them still.

"Alright guys, say it with me," Yuma said, eyes glued to the cards as they were exposed. "Money jump, money jump, money jump!"

"Oh, shit!" The player in seat two put his hands up onto his forehead. "I'm dead!" His pair of eights in the hole were matched nicely with the eight on the board, but seat six turned over his four cards, which included a pair of jacks, making a set with the jack that had come out on the turn.

"Not dead," the other player said. "You've got one out."

"Aw." The first player rubbed his forehead. "That's what I get for trying to slowplay. You've got me covered, right?"

The dealer quickly ended any drama by putting out the ace of diamonds.

"Alright." The eliminated player puffed out a large breath. "Been fun, everyone."

"Money jump!" Ken said under his breath.

OOO

The dealer, all eyes in the room on him, burned off a card, then put down the king of spades.

"That's no good," Miyako said, standing up from her chair. "Alright, boys, have fun." She reached across the table, taking the hands of each of the remaining players in turn and shaking it.

"Aw man," Ken said quietly. "I felt good about that river card too."

"I was sending all my good karma towards the river card," Daryl added. "Sometimes it's just not enough."

"Alright guys, just like we discussed, take position right outside of the exit hall," Daisy said, standing up and quickly shuffling over towards the aisle between bleacher seats. The entire group of friends followed, going up the aisles to one of the exits.

The entire room went into a round of applause for Miyako as she made her way away from the table, giving her full credit for a very impressive run. Miyako spun around, waving to the audience as she walked over towards the exit tunnel.

Quickly, the eight friends, followed by Hikari, scrambled out of the room and made for the small staircase leading down to the first level. As they moved as a group, the loudspeakers kicked on, projecting audio all around the casino.

"Alright, we just lost Miyako Inoue in fourth place," the soft voice sounded, doubtlessly Erin Parker yet again. "Miyako, you're twenty years old, right now everyone just knows you as the daughter of Kuro Inoue, do you think that's all about to change?"

"Well, that's not really up to me," Miyako replied. "People are going to know me however they want to know me. I mean, I'll say this, before today, I didn't consider myself to be a good Omaha player, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to play in this tournament. After what happened today, I guess I'll be hard pressed to say that now."

The group of eight people all gathered up against the wall to the right of the the exit hall, about fifteen feet away from where Miyako was doing her interview.

"So how'd you do it? Omaha is considered one of the most complex games played at the world series, it confounds millions of players around the world, how'd you manage to run this well?"

"I played aggressively. Like I said, I was pretty neutral on playing in this tournament, so I honestly didn't really mind if I went out quickly. I know Omaha is a game where you're never really confident unless you have the nuts, so I just put a lot of pressure on my opponents, and it worked well for me. I got some good cards too, and I made the most of it."

"Takeru Ishida was eliminated in twelfth place a bit ago, he says he's friends with you. How do you two know each other?"

"Oh, yeah, we met at academy," she answered. "Uh, he was childhood friends with Ken Ichijouji, and I met him, and he introduced me to Takeru. I'm dating Ken now, actually, but yeah, me and Takeru see each other all the time, play poker all the time."

"Miyako Inoue, a fourth place finish, nearly thirty thousand five hundred dollars richer. Thanks for your time."

The collection of people waited against the wall right by the exit. Seconds ticked by, light footsteps announcing the arrival of Miyako. After a few seconds, she casually emerged.

The entire group of her friends lunged out from behind the wall, a mass of humanity leaping onto her, causing her to shriek a bit as a bevvy of hands all reached out to grab her. Before she could react, several of the hands had grabbed her and raised her up into the air, holding her up above their heads.

"Ahh, God!" Miyako yelped, waving her hands around frantically for a second before realizing that her friends were mobbing her. "Oh, you bunch of clowns." She let herself be passed around for a moment atop the group.

"So, how long have you been holding out on your hidden skill, huh?" Daryl asked, grinning up at her. "All those years of pretending to forget the two card rule, all built up to this?"

Miyako rolled her eyes. "I drew good tables. Tight players who didn't want to get felted, I just kept bluffing them."

"Yeah, that's called playing great poker!" Ken said. Slowly, she was lowered down to the ground, allowed to stand again. "You were so good, sweetie, I knew you could play, but that was unreal."

"Thank you," Miyako said, brushing off her front with her hands. "I just tried to remember everything I've learned about board texture and played really aggressively."

"I'm kinda jealous now," Takeru said. "I didn't get lifted up in the air by you guys yesterday."

"Probably because everyone expected it," Miyako replied. "This is totally different, this is like a...a bicycle winning a car race."

"Alright, enough of that talk," Akira said, waving Miyako off. "You kicked ass, you're the Omaha queen, let's go have some goddamn dinner."

Takeru looked up at a wall clock behind him. "We've got...an hour and a half before the stud tournament starts, plenty of time."

"W-wait," Hikari spoke up suddenly, still standing by the wall. "There's another tournament starting tonight?"

"Yup." Takeru clapped a couple times. "Seven card stud, thousand dollar no limit, same deal. They gotta cram a lot of tournaments into a two month window, it never ends. It's insane."

"What's insane is you trying to play in all of them," Daisy spoke up. "Some of them even overlap. You can ingest all the cocaine you want, it's not gonna help you be in two places at once."

"Who needs cocaine, I have an oxygen bed. That thing is awesome by the way," Takeru countered.

"Yeah, if you can get past nearly suffocating when you first get in," Daisy said. "Yeah, so, I'm going to join the sane people in skipping the next couple tournaments. You know, get some decent sleep, try to get my eating habits back on track, normal people things."

OOO

"You wouldn't believe how smart this woman is," Takeru said, leaning against the backrest of his chair, pointing up at Miyako at the head of the long, thin table. "I always wondered if she was just playing us with the whole Omaha act. I'll bet she doesn't want to play Stud or Razz because they're too easy, she doesn't want to embarrass everyone else."

"You think I care about embarrassing you guys?" Miyako raised an eyebrow over at Takeru from behind a large slab of pot roast. "I'm not taking it easy on you guys, I wouldn't do that."

"I mean, really, imagine what could have happened if she didn't start playing poker." Takeru continued to lean over to Hikari, boasting about his friend's intellectual prowess. "This woman, she shows up to academy at twelve. Just like everyone else. She spends one week in the first year circuit, gets pushed up, spends a week in the second year circuit, then they realize she belongs in the third year circuit."

"That's really not as uncommon as you seem to think," Miyako insisted, setting down her fork. "Besides, you should be pointing your finger a bit to the left." She motioned her head towards Ken. "You think I'm smart, get a load of this guy. He showed up to academy at twelve, could have been a teacher."

"True," Takeru admitted. "Both of you should have done great things. I feel like I might have had something to do with leading you astray." Takeru shook his head in mock disappointment. "I should be in jail."

"Hey, what's better than this?" Miyako spread her arms out to her sides. "You think I'd do anything differently? I made thirty thousand dollars in less than ten hours today, you see any paydays like that in...engineering? Science? Computers? Teaching?"

"Yeah, because you need the money," Daisy said dryly. "Your father eats bowls of cereal in the morning worth thirty thousand dollars."

"Well, that's my father," Miyako countered. "I have brothers to inheirit that empire, so I may as well cut out my own path, and I may as well have a ton of fun and make a lot of money doing it." She looked over at Takeru to her left. "So, you went out twelfth, right?"

"Yeah, twelfth," Takeru repeated. "Uh, Daryl finished forty-ninth, right?" He looked down the table, getting a quick nod from Daryl. "No one else here cashed."

"That's just so sick," Miyako said, swallowing down a part of a baked potato. "You almost made the final table of both your first world series events, that's amazing."

Takeru stood up from the table. "Alright, gentlemen, ladies, it's been great. Miyako, congratulations again. I have a tournament to hit."

Daisy held her arms up in the air. "Alright, sanity check time. If you're crazy, stand up and go with Takeru to go play in your second tournament today. If you're sane, remain seated, get some dessert, go get a massage, and hit the sack, and sleep in tomorrow morning."

After a beat, Ken and Sammy both stood from their seats.

"See?" Daisy leaned over towards Miyako. "I'm right. I've always been right." She pointed at Ken. "You *are* smarter than him."


	13. Loose Aggressive

Chapter 13: Loose Aggressive

"Sir, believe me, I'm still getting more sleep than I ever did when I worked at the Ripley's or with Hido," Hikari said, sitting down at the dining table in the middle of the hotel room. "Six hours, I'm happy to get six hours of sleep."

"Might end up being an early night tonight," Takeru said, stretching his arms up above his head. "So if you are getting tired, and I don't blame you, there might be hope on the horizon." He came over towards the table, buttoning his silk shirt. "Alright, so, we've got about...twenty minutes, that's more than enough time to explain seven-card stud to you."

"You know, sir, I think I managed to pick up on the game last night by watching," Hikari said, practically beaming. "It wasn't too bad, I think I got it."

"Nice!" Takeru sat down next to her. "Okay. Teach me how to play stud, then."

Hikari cleared her throat, sitting up towards the table. "Okay, well...at the start, every player gets dealt three cards. The first two are face down, the third is face up." She nodded to herself. "Round of betting. Every player gets a fourth card face up. Round of betting. Every player gets a fifth card face up. Round of betting. Every player gets a sixth card face up. Round of betting. Every player gets a seventh card face DOWN. Round of betting. Showdown if there are two or more players left in the hand. Everyone makes the best five card hand they can with their seven cards. Best hand wins."

"Very eloquently done," Takeru said, impressed. "See, there are similar threads in all games of poker, once you understand one the others will come easier." He stretched his right arm across his body. "Stud is one of the easier games, older game. Not as popular now, but it's action all the same."

"The only thing I didn't get is...it seemed like the order of players would change sometimes in the same hand, I couldn't figure what was up with that." Hikari squinted down at the table.

"Ah, yeah." Takeru nodded. "That one is a little weird. Whoever has the smallest card showing face up has to go first. So if you're playing against one opponent, and his face up card is an eight, and yours is a five, you go first. After that, whoever has the best poker hand showing face up goes first. So if nobody has a pair showing, the highest card goes first. If someone has a pair, or three of a kind, they'd go first. And from that point, action goes to the left."

"Oh, okay, makes sense." Hikari pursed her lips. "Alright, I think I've got stud, it's not bad at all."

"And it's a limit game. On the first two rounds of betting, bets and raises all have to be a specified amount. On the last three rounds of betting, that amount doubles, and all bets and raises have to be that amount."

"I did figure that out," Hikari said. "Thank you, sir."

"Frankly, all things considered, it's not nearly as interesting a game as Holdem or Omaha." He shrugged. "But action is action, and it's another chance to win a bracelet, so sign me up."

OOO

It was as it always was. The massive room filled with poker tables, bustling with activity, every table attracting spectators, with a neverending din of conversations filling the air. Hikari finally felt comfortable in such an environment, no longer feeling overly hot or short of breath. She stayed close to Takeru as he manuevered through the tables.

"Alright, alright," Takeru muttered. "Table number...number eight, where are we here?" He stood up on tiptoe and looked around. "Ah ha, here we are." He plowed forward into a small collection of audience members, getting up to the rail and jumping it. Hikari came up behind him, stopping at the rail. "Alright, Hikari, I hope you knew what you were talking about this morning, I'm gonna play today based off of your teachings in stud."

Hikari gave a small smile, putting her arms up on the rail.

"Oh, you're starting to pick up on this sarcasm thing!" Takeru grinned. "See, you spend enough time around me, you start to pick up on it." He turned around, taking one step towards the table before freezing. "Whoa!"

Hikari ducked her head to the right, trying to see around her master to whatever had surprised him. Things seemed normal, a poker table with a dealer sitting in the seat on one of the long ends and players seated all around the oval. Following Takeru's eyes, he seemed to be looking right at one of the players. A tall, thin man with short red hair.

"I-it can't be..." Takeru quickly strode forward, going up next to the man, looking down at him. "It is! Wow!" Hikari didn't recognize him, unsurprisingly. "Prodigious?!"

"That I am," the man replied, smiling up at Takeru before turning back to the table.

"Wow, the people you meet here, unreal." Takeru looked around, putting his hands on his hips. "Hikari!" He looked over to her, pointing down at the man. "It's Prodigious!"

Hikari could only return a very confused look, gaze going back and forth from Takeru to 'Prodigious'. "U-uh..."

"He's the ORIGINAL internet maniac," Takeru continued to glow, doing very little to assist in Hikari's understanding. "Like, in the beginning, there was nothing, and then, there was Prodigious."

"Okay, come on man, that's enough," the man said quietly. "I mean, I..." he turned to look up at Takeru, words suddenly slowing to a halt. "Oh. Oh, you're...you're Takeru Ishida? You won the bracelet a couple days ago?"

"U-uh, yup, that was me," Takeru said, nodding.

"Wow, okay!" He reached up and extended his hand towards Takeru, who quickly took it and shook it. "I've been in your father's casino many times, in the high roller room."

"So that's where everyone's money went," Takeru said, sitting down in the chair to the left of him. "Man, you sign up for a simple little tournament around here, you end up sitting next to Prodigious."

Hikari wanted to speak up and ask, but it didn't seem like the right environment. Even with her very narrow view of the world, Prodigious seemed like far too strange of a name for a person to have. Finally, emboldened by the last several days of interaction with people, she found her voice. "Your...your name is...Prodigious?"

She thought she saw him give a small laugh, then turn around to look at her. "It's what most people call me," he answered. "Not overly familiar with the world of internet poker, I take it?"

Hikari shook her head.

"Prodigious is my user name online," he explained. "A lot of people use it in real life too now. Guess it's more interesting a name than Koushiro Izumi." He turned back to the table.

"I didn't know you even played stud," Takeru said, going over his chip stack.

"I don't," Koushiro replied. "Don't care for it. But I've got my million dollar wager, so I'll suck it up and play it."

OOO

"Seven hundred and ninety-eight people entered last night, and now as we kick off action at table eight today, we've got two hundred and fourteen left. More than half of our remaining players will finish in the money."

Takeru considered his two down cards for a moment, his holdings along with a five of hearts face up, before tossing the three cards over to the dealer.

"Takeru Ishida, in seat number four, is out, he had a seven and a ten in the hole, so he was holding rags. He's got about seven thousand in chips, a little less than twice the tournament average, no point in throwing in with junk."

Action went around the table.

"You know, Takeru, has obviously had a really phenomenal run to start his first world series. He's got a group of close friends who are also all playing in events here this year, and as a collective, they're really doing great. A group of kids, taking this place by storm, you gotta love it."

"And, here we are, Kyle Lovelady is looking at a queen facing up, and queen ten as his down cards, I think he's going to come in here. The bring-in amount is four hundred, he's got...about three thousand left, seems like a fair hand to take a shot on."

Lovelady, with some thought put into it, threw out four black chips.

"And Lovelady is in, and he might just pick up this small pot right here, we'll see what the last three players have."

The player to Lovelady's left threw his cards over to the dealer.

"Back to Takeru real quick, one thing that's kind of different about him, and really his friends, is that their mannerisms and stories are actually quite different from most young poker players. Take Takeru, his table mannerisms are very subdued, he doesn't celebrate very much when he wins or get particularly upset when he loses, not something you see from a lot of the kids."

"He also doesn't wear sunglasses, which is a favorite way to hide tells among many poker players. Takeru clearly has decided to steer clear of that little fad. Also, and this is really unique, Takeru claims to have never played a single hand of internet poker in his life. So many of these kid phenoms got their start playing online poker, but Takeru says he's never needed to and doesn't have much interest in it!"

"Yes, pretty uncommon. Alright, Lovelady has one player left to get through. Koushiro Izumi had a three face up, so he paid the bring in of four hundred, and you figure with a card like that in his hand, he might not have too much, so this is likely a check."

Koushiro peeled up his two down cards, showing the three of hearts and three of diamonds.

"Oh my! Koushiro is rolled up!"

Koushiro looked over at Lovelady, expression flat and neutral.

"Yup, Izumi gets dealt three of a kind with his first three cards, also known as being rolled up. And this is one of the scariest things to run into in a poker game. Koushiro Izumi with a big hand."

Koushiro tapped the felt a few times.

"Well, he's going to check his option. Not the kind of play you'd usually see in stud when a player is rolled up, and in a limit game it's probably not the most profitable play, but Koushiro does love to play poker in a way that nobody else does."

"In his defense, he's not a great stud player, says he's not a fan of the game. This would be a reasonable play in Holdem or Omaha, the two games that Koushiro specializes in.

The dealer burned a card before sending out one to Koushiro and one to Lovelady.

"Lovelady gets dealt the ace of clubs, he'll like that card. Could be good for his hand down the line, and it's a scary card to be showing. Koushiro gets the six of diamonds, and man, is his hand ever disguised. He's got a three and a six showing, offsuit, how could you EVER think he actually has a monster?"

Lovelady licked his lips, shuffling chips.

"Well, this shouldn't take too long. You can either check or bet four hundred chips, so decisions tend to get made a little quicker."

"While we're waiting, I want to talk about Koushiro Izumi really quick, because his story is fascinating, and a lot of our viewers might not know him very well because his tournament footprint is so small. So, Koushiro was born in Leavensworth to a very typical family, nothing remarkable about him or his life. And then, when he was twelve, he attended academy."

Lovelady threw out four hundred chips.

"And Lovelady will try to take down this pot now while it seems like Koushiro doesn't have a hand. Koushiro to act."

"Koushiro spent less than three years at academy, at which point he was already first class in three categories! He displayed the kind of brilliance that only comes around a few times in a generation, and crushed everything they put in front of him. He could have stayed on and kept piling up accolades, but he left academy, saying that he thought it was boring and that he thought it'd be pointless to obtain more first class marks just for the sake of it."

Koushiro put out two piles of black chips, both of them four chips high, marking a raise to eight hundred.

"And here comes Koushiro, announcing the strength of his hand with a raise! Lovelady looks confused, not sure how to react."

Lovelady's face scrunched up, looking over at his foe, eyes dodging downwards towards his two upcards.

"And here we go. Koushiro is a very active player, loves to bluff, loves to try to force opponents to fold winning hands when he doesn't have anything by applying pressure. You usually don't see much bluffing in limit seven card stud, since the betting structure makes it hard to pull them off. But that certainly wouldn't stop a guy like Koushiro from trying. He's got a three and a six face up, it's easy to imagine he's trying to make a move. But not this time. He's got a real hand."

"So, Koushiro's not even fifteen yet, he's done more at academy than most eighteen year olds manage to pull off, and he decides to go live with his parents while he decides what he wants to do. He discovers online poker, and starts playing on PokerHub under the username of Prodigious. He starts off with a hundred dollars, builds his way up, and after six months, he's one of the biggest names in online poker!"

Lovelady slowly put out four black chips, calling the raise.

"Lovelady calls, but he doesn't seem to like it much. Koushiro definitely has the driver seat for the rest of this hand, Lovelady needs a queen to take the lead."

The dealer sent Koushiro the queen of clubs, and Lovelady the nine of hearts.

"Interesting deal right there. Lovelady doesn't like Koushiro getting a queen, since he needed a queen. But he also knows that that queen probably didn't help Koushiro, since Lovelady has two queens in his hand. Of course, the nine doesn't do much for Lovelady, so he's still trying to figure out if a pair of queens is any good."

Lovelady grimaced, looking down at his face up cards, then over to Koushiro's.

"Koushiro turned hundreds of dollars into thousands, then into hundreds of thousands, and that transformed into millions! When he turned twenty, he was easily the most feared poker player on the internet. He played so unconventionally, and always knew just how to scare the pants off his opponents. Around that time, he started playing live poker, showing up at casinos with hundreds of thousands of dollars to play extremely high stakes Holdem and Omaha, and had success there. Of course, with him finally showing his face and revealing himself to the public, people pieced together that he had been playing online poker while underage."

Lovelady checked, Koushiro quickly firing out eight black chips.

"Lovelady passes to Koushiro, allowing him to put out another bet, and Koushiro has clearly decided to floor it. Lovelady will probably have to put in the rest of his chips if he wants to continue in this hand. He's gonna take a minute to consider his options."

"Of course, you're not allowed to play online poker for real money until you turn eighteen. PokerHub could have sued for at least some of the money Koushiro had won while he was under eighteen, but they ended up settling out of court, a deal that includes Koushiro being a PokerHub sponsor and spokesperson. So whenever he's playing live poker, you'll see him wearing a PokerHub shirt, possibly a PokerHub jacket, now you know why."

"That was a few years ago. Since then, Koushiro has continued to be a force at high stakes cash games, both live and online. And he's really been the driving force behind online poker being taken more seriously in the past few years, and he paved the way for other internet phenoms like Ryan Gandolphini and Jason Duggar to make it to the big stage. Before Koushiro, I think a lot of people didn't take online poker too seriously, didn't respect the players who played online, but it's become nearly impossible to argue with the results of some of these players."

Lovelady committed eight black chips forward, leaving him very few chips remaining in front of him.

"Lovelady calls, he's got about a thousand chips left. You figure he's committed to this pot right now, and pretty much has to close his eyes and call any bet on sixth street and seventh street."

The dealer put out a face up card to Koushiro, the king of spades, and then gave Lovelady the ace of spades.

"Ooof, Lovelady now has two pair, aces and queens. That does give him more outs on the last card, so we will have a touch more drama. Koushiro's king doesn't really matter to him, at this point there's only one card left in the deck that can improve his hand in a way that matters. Lovelady to act."

"I bet," Lovelady said, putting out most of his remaining stack.

"Koushiro freezes for a moment here. He might think that Lovelady has an ace in his down cards, which would give him three aces, a hand that has three threes crushed. I think he has to call because of the price, but he doesn't love that card."

"Two hundred left?" Koushiro asked, craning his head up to see across the table.

"Koushiro says he's more of a cash game player, doesn't play in very many tournaments, not a huge fan of the format. But he's going to give everything he's got this world series, try to pick up some tournament achievements."

"By the way. That hundred dollars he started with on PokerHub when he was fourteen? He lost that hundred, deposited another hundred. That second hundred dollar deposit is now an estimated twenty-six million dollars."

"I raise you all-in," Koushiro said.

"Yeah, I call," Lovelady replied, turning over his two face down cards, showing two pair. Koushiro revealed his pair of threes in the hole.

"Alright, Lovelady at risk and trailing. He'll need a queen or an ace to take the lead, and if he gets that card, Koushiro will have to pick up a three, only one of those left in the deck."

"Let me know if I have to look," Koushiro said, the last card being dealt out face down. Slowly, Lovelady peeled the corner of his up, going down low to look at whether or not he had drawn out.

"Eight," Lovelady said, frustratingly flipping over an eight of spades. "You're good."

Koushiro turned over the seven of hearts, meaningless in the hand, as his three threes had already secured victory. "Good hand."

"Maybe for you," Lovelady said wryly, reaching over the table to shake Koushiro's hand. "Should have just folded before I made two pair."

"Would have left you with less than two grand, you kinda had to go with it," Koushiro said. "Alright." He sat back down in his seat.

"And the internet whiz kid scores a knockout! It's not his best game, but everyone should be very afraid of the man they call Prodigious all the same!"

OOO

"I just wish there was a way to bet ON you," Takeru said, looking over to his right at Koushiro. "That was my problem, there wasn't any way to bet on you, because I would have taken that action in a heartbeat. I would have bet my entire life savings on you for sure."

"So, what, I'd have to bet against myself?" Koushiro said, laughing a bit, taking a sip from a bottle of water. "Seems like a really bad idea for many reasons."

"No, I'd take action with the suckers who bet against you, of course." Takeru ran his fingers through his hair.

"Takeru and Koushiro seem to have taken a liking to each other. They're discussing Koushiro's million dollar wager that he made a few months ago. He offered a two hundred thousand dollar bet to anyone who wanted it that he would win at least one world series bracelet this year at five-to-one odds. Five people took that bet. If Koushiro fails to win a bracelet this year, he'll owe two hundred thousand dollars to each of those five. But if he wins a bracelet, each of those five takers will have to pay Koushiro one million."

"Very bold bet. Obviously, Koushiro loves to gamble, and he has no problem risking a ton of money. Still, Koushiro has only played in a total of seven world series events before this year, has one cash, and has never made a final table. He says that he did it because he likes to put pressure on himself to succeed, and he thinks it makes things a lot more interesting."

"I'm raising," Koushiro said, putting out a half-stack of black chips.

"Koushiro raises things to one thousand, he's holding a...jack ten of spades in the hole, and he's got a jack of clubs face up, so split jacks, as they say."

Takeru leaned forward, taking a look at his two down cards. Ace of spades, ace of diamonds.

"And Takeru's got the bullets in the hole! That's a great way to start off a hand of stud! He's also got a nine of diamonds face up, a fairly harmless looking card, so this is setting up well for him."

"Raise," Takeru announced, pulling five black chips off of a stack of black he had in front of him and pushing it forward.

"Yup, there he goes, up to fifteen hundred! That'll get rid of the players who don't have much of a hand pretty quickly."

The player to the left of Takeru quickly mucked, and was copied by the next player.

"Two folds, and...oh my, this could get rough for Martin Olsson, he's got a king face up, and his down cards are a king and queen. He's got to like that hand a lot, but he's currently in rough shape against Takeru's aces."

Without much preamble, Olsson made a fifteen hundred chip call. Koushiro was quick to throw another five hundred chips in the middle.

"Koushiro's got the worst hand right now, Takeru's in the lead. Three big pairs, could definitely be trouble for someone."

The dealer gave each player their fourth card, exposed for all the world to see. Koushiro received a nine of clubs, Takeru got the four of hearts, Olsson took a eight of hearts.

"Well, Koushiro does pick up three cards to a straight. Takeru and Olsson both draw blanks, but they still have strong hands. In stud, when you get a good hand, you don't really trap, and when you get a bad hand, you don't bluff too much. It's very straightforward, no-nonsense poker most of the time, thanks to the betting structure, so I imagine all three of these players will plow ahead with their big pairs."

Olsson tapped the table a couple times with his knuckles. Koushiro was quick to check behind, putting the action onto Takeru.

"Five hundred," Takeru said, putting out the rest of the stack of black.

"Takeru bets, naturally. Both his opponents had the sense to slow down a bit, but I don't think they're gonna be able to fold."

About ten feet away from the table, behind Takeru's seat, Hikari had struck up a conversation with a woman. Brown hair going down past her shoulders framing a pretty face, an hourglass figure framing a blue sundress, she was certainly one to catch the eye of anyone in the area.

"There's, uh, Hikari Yagami, Takeru's supposed good luck charm, always watching him from behind the rail, talking with Koushiro's girlfriend. Perhaps Koushiro considers her to be his own good luck charm, but either way, he must feel very lucky to be with her. That's, of course, the lovely Mimi Tachikawa."

"Call," Olsson said, putting out five hundred black chips.

"Back to the action, Olsson makes the call. Koushiro has a lot to think about here. He's got a potential straight in the making, and he's got a good pair, but Takeru has represented significant strength, and Olsson must have something to be calling two streets."

Koushiro, after some thought, tossed in five black chips.

"He can't resist."

Koushiro was dealt the four of spades, Olsson received a eight of spades, and Takeru took the the nine of spades.

"Spade-heavy round of dealing, that might change things! Koushiro gets a blank, but Olsson and Takeru both make two pair! Takeru makes aces and nines, Olsson makes kings and eights. Takeru has a pair of nines showing, he's first to act."

"One thousand," Takeru announced, putting out a purple chip.

"He decides to put those purple chips at risk, confident in his two pair being good, and they are. Olsson can't possibly get away from this now."

Olsson made a purple chip offering, calling the wager. Koushiro was very quick to whisk his five cards over to the dealer.

"And Koushiro snap folds! Very nice by him, he is known as a loose aggressive player, but he knew he was well behind and not getting the right price. Nice instincts."

Takeru received the ace of spades, Olsson got the two of clubs.

"Wow! Perfect card for Takeru, he's made aces full of nines! Olsson gets a blank, but he still might like his hand enough to get into real trouble here!"

Without hesitating, Takeru put out another purple chip. Olsson reached for his chips, then hesitated, looking up at Takeru's face up cards.

"Olsson piecing together the logic of the hand. If Takeru has just one nine in the hole, he's got three nines, which is the best hand and has Olsson drawing thin. If Takeru has ace nine in the hole, he's got nines full, and Olsson would be drawing almost dead. And, of course, should he have aces in the hole, which he does, Olsson is drawing completely dead. But the pot is very large, Olsson has already committed a good portion of his chips, and folding the best hand at this point is disasterous. I think he's gotta call, call seventh street, and hope for the best."

Olsson tossed out a purple chip, leaving him with just two purple and five black.

"He'll still be alive at the end of this hand if he just calls, but he'll be very short. Not even enough to try to fall asleep and make the money. In fairness, his hand would be the best hand most of the time, but it's just not."

Both players got a seventh card, pointless as it may have been with Takeru holding an unbeatable hand. Takeru took the quickest of glances at the three of diamonds before tossing out another purple chip, pretending that he cared what the card was.

"I have a very good hand," Olsson said, voice accented heavily. "But I really don't beat anything."

"Olsson knows what's up. He picked up a two of diamonds, irrelevant to the hand, and now he's got to put in a thousand to give his two pair a chance to take this hand."

"I guess I have to call," Olsson finally said, his voice a bit weary. "Call."

Takeru turned over his three down cards, revealing the hidden aces that gave him a dominant hand. Olsson gave a little shrug, taking his row of seven cards and flicking them to the dealer.

"That beats me," he said, putting a purple chip over the yellow line, forced to make good on his call.

"And Takeru takes a big pot, five figures in the middle there! His dream world series marches on!"

OOO

~Hikari~

"Oh, you're talking to strangers now?" Takeru asked, crossing his arms over his chest, looking at Hikari. She took a half-step away from the rail, instinctively flinching under the accusatory tone that Takeru took.

She glanced away from him for a moment, then looked back up to him. "W-wait, is this the...this a—"

"Yeah, I'm just being a clown, I think that's awesome," Takeru said, immediately dropping his arms to his sides, grinning. "I think it's great." He turned to Mimi, putting his hand out towards her. "Great to meet you. Your boy over there is a legend."

"Yeah, he's okay," Mimi replied, shaking Takeru's hand. "I'm glad you can appreciate some of his more insane maneuvers, I think they're stressful."

"Any good poker player thrives under stress," Takeru countered casually.

"Life is on the wire," Koushiro said, slowly walking up to the railing behind Takeru, holding a basket of blueberries, slowly putting them into his mouth one at a time. "The rest is just waiting."

"Exactly," Takeru said. He turned back to Mimi. "So, I've always wanted to know, this guy, what's he like when he starts multi-tabling? What does he look like? I'd pay to see, I think, that must just look nuts."

Mimi gave a little laugh. "When Koushiro starts multi-tabling, I don't bug him for anything. The house could catch on fire and he'd just sit there, eyes glued to the screen, me screaming in his ear to get up, and he wouldn't even notice until the internet gave out."

"That's what it takes to be great," Takeru said. "What's your record? Is it still sixteen tables?"

"Yeah, I've played...sixteen tables before," Koushiro replied. "Not well, mind you, but...competently. I did that for charity."

"Yeah, but you still did it for two straight hours," Takeru reminded him. "Yeah, Hikari, this guy right here, he jumps on his computer, he plays at sixteen different poker tables at once. That's how locked in this guy gets. You think I'm something special, this guy is an animal."

Koushiro shrugged. "Hey. Count the bracelets. I've got a three year head start, it's one to zero."

Takeru scoffed. "How about count the money? I know the story, you turned two hundred dollars into...what, seven million on PokerHub? And that seven million is now...what, thirty million? What's it like to be worth thirty million dollars?"

"I would not know." Koushiro pushed a few more blueberries into his mouth.

"Holy shit, you're rubbing elbows with who now?" Ken suddenly came up to the rail, leaning forward, eyes wide as he looked Koushiro over. "You playing stud with Prodigious?"

"Oh God," Mimi grunted, rolling her eyes. "I hate it when people call him that, it's so dumb."

"Yeah, that's why I used it in my name," Koushiro said, looking over at Mimi. "I wanted a username that would piss people off when they saw it, and...I can't think of a more obnoxious, irritating username than...Prodigious." He shrugged.

"I just wish I was in the room with some of those online players you destroyed when the world found out who you were." Takeru grinned. "Think about that. This account comes out of nowhere, wins millions of dollars, runs over everyone, plays in a way that nobody's ever really seen...and then you find out it was some teenager living with his parents."

"In his underwear," Koushirou added, giving a tiny smile. "Always wearing nothing but my underwear too."

"Why...why are you saying that like you're...proud of it? That's...that's not something to be proud of, that's not something you tell people," Mimi said, shaking her head.

"Alright, I think I walked into this conversation at a weird time," Ken said. "So, ole buddy of mine, you've been playing poker with Prodigious and you're still alive, what is your secret?" He leaned up close to Takeru.

"This is me at my weakest!" Koushiro protested. "You guys are talking about me like this, and we're at a...a stud table in a tournament. If you're gonna talk about me like this, at least let it be at a high roller Holdem table in Panok when I've got a million dollars in front of me."

"That just scares me more," Ken replied. "Stud is so much simpler than Holdem."

"Are you out?" Takeru turned to Ken.

Ken gave a reluctant nod. "First four cards, open-ended straight flush draw. Brick, brick, brick." He shrugged. "And guess what hand I lost to?"

"Uh, ace high?" Takeru said sardonically.

"Not that sick," Ken answered. "Pair of sevens. One pair of sevens. What a way to miss the money."

"Well, there's room on the rail here." Takeru looked up at the wall clock. "We're gonna start up again in a couple minutes. And...we've got Razz starting in about three hours."

Hikari ran through some mental math, squinting her face a bit. "W...wait a minute, won't the...four hours, this tournament might still be going in four hours. I think. Right?"

"It almost definitely will be," Takeru replied. "We've still got over a hundred people left."

"U-uh, I mean...what if you're still in this one when the next one starts, sir?" Hikari asked, wondering what possible magic trick Takeru had in mind to be in two places at once.

"I'll stay here," Takeru answered simply. "My hands will automatically get folded, I'll lose my blinds, whenever I'm done here I'll run upstairs and jump in. Probably down a handful of chips, but nothing I can't bounce back from with a couple good hands."

"A man after my own heart," Koushiro said. "I'm doing the exact same thing. And I can't stand Razz." He put his fist out towards Takeru. Takeru extended his own fist, touching their knuckles together.

Mimi gave a sardonic laugh. "Yep, this is the crazy stuff you see when you spend time around a poker player." She looked at Hikari. "And now they're hanging out together, they're going to encourage each other, this is a disaster."

OOO

"I actually might prefer things like this, if I don't finish in the top twenty I don't have to do those stupid interviews," Takeru said. "They just ask you inane, pointless questions with obvious answers, why would I want to mess with that? That's it, no more top twenty finishes for me."

He was seated at the dining room table of the hotel room, right by one of the four corners of the table, Hikari on the other side of the corner. On the surface of the table, between there, were two slips of paper, containing the usual stock paragraph congratulating Takeru for coming in eightieth, and a small receipt for a cash prize of two thousand two hundred and seventy four dollars.

"That was a...uh, tough way to go out though," Hikari said.

"Hey, no problem," Takeru said. "King high flush, run into an ace high flush, that's just a cooler, I'll deal with those every now and then. I've cashed in three events so far, I couldn't have scripted this any better." He checked the wall clock. "And I have some time to hang out here before Razz starts. You wanna take a nap or something, go right ahead."

"I'm not tired, sir," Hikari replied. "Uh, before we go, what's...what's Razz?"

"It's an evil game created by someone who clearly hated poker players and wanted them to suffer."

The two of them looked over at the glass door that led out to the balcony, which was open. Just outside, on the large ledge, Daisy was sprawled out on a beach chair, wearing nothing but a golden bikini that matched her hair and large sunglasses on her face. Taking in as much of the sun's rays as she could, she had her head turned over her left shoulder, looking over at the two inside the room.

"They have a perfectly good sunbathing deck down by the pool, you know," Takeru said, looking over at the jaw-dropping blonde.

"I enjoy my privacy," Daisy replied, turning her head back, looking up into the blue skies above.

"Yeah, I'm charging you rent for using my porch, you know. Four hundred dollars an hour." Takeru gave a playful little smirk.

"You should be paying me to stay here," Daisy countered. "I'm the only thing making this place look decent."

"You're not even the prettiest blonde here," Takeru snarked. "Anyway, Daisy is completely right, Razz is a stupid game. If Poker was...a pizza, Razz is the...random, loose olive that snuck under the cheese, because the guy who cooked it accidentally dropped it there, and you ordered pepperoni and mushrooms, so just out of nowhere you take a bite, and you crunch down into a completely unexpected, unwelcome olive, and the flavors don't mix, and you've got a bad taste in your mouth, and your whole dinner is ruined."

Hikari wasn't quite sure how to reply to all that, not understanding much beyond that Razz was apparently not Takeru's favorite poker variant.

"Alright, it's like this." Takeru cleared his throat. "The game is played exactly like Stud. Except it's the exact opposite."

Hikari waited for Takeru to elaborate, starting to catch on to his dry wit and sarcastic sense of humor, sure that an honest explanation was coming.

"That's actually what it is," Takeru said. "So, the game plays out just like stud does, but in Razz, the players are trying to get the worst hand instead of the best hand."

Hikari blinked down hard a couple times, her forehead wrinkling, still waiting for Takeru to start being serious.

"So, in Razz, there's no such thing as a straight or flush, so those don't matter. And aces count as low cards, so basically an ace is a one. So, ultimately, you don't want to make any pairs. You get dealt seven cards, just like in stud, and you want to make the worst possible five card hand with your seven cards. So, the best possible Razz hand would be ace two three four five, the five lowest cards. Since each player gets seven cards, you can make two pairs and ignore the two cards that paired and still make a good hand. Basically, whatever happens, you want five cards that don't make a pair, where all five cards are small cards."

"Huh," Hikari said quietly. "That's...well I didn't expect a game like that, sir."

"I know, right?" Takeru gave a little laugh. "Some sadistic bastard, I guess someone who never got good cards when he played Stud, decided to invent a game where the objective was to get bad cards. Fifty years ago it was one of the most popular poker games, but it's largely fallen out of favor now. It sticks around in the world series because of nostalgia, mainly. Most people just get angry when they play Razz because it can get so frustrating. It's definitely my worst game." Takeru put his hands up behind his head. "But hey, there's money to be won all the same, so I'll play it."

"Whatever you want to do, sir," Hikari said.

Takeru laughed. "I know, I know, but...I can't help myself. And hey, I know how to play it." He shrugged. "And I'm already here, may as well take a shot. But it's definitely a weird game."

"You know what's really weird?" Daisy looked back over her shoulder. "I'm out here in a bikini, and he'd rather sit in there talking about nerd crap. That's what's weird."

Takeru smirked. "Yeah, because I've never seen THAT before. Such a rare occurance." He stood up. "I'm gonna go get some room service. You wanna try some sushi? You'd probably like it, it's fish."

"I'll try anything you think I'd like, sir," Hikari answered, standing up as well.

"Alright, be right back." Takeru turned away from the table, going over to the kitchen counter. "You could go keep Daisy company for a bit. Give her some attention, she clearly really needs some."

Hikari didn't need to be told twice, padding across the carpet out to the balcony. She slipped through the space between the door and the wall, unconsciously closing the glass panel behind her as she stepped out into the boiling sun, flinching a bit as her bare soles made contact with the bakingly-hot wood planks.

She went over by Daisy, pulling herself onto a stool so she could pull her feet off of the ground. Daisy glanced over to her, giving a tiny smile.

"I could never live in a place like this. It's this hot for like eight months out of the year," Daisy said quietly. "But it's a damn paradise when you're just visiting for awhile."

"It is...it's definitely very hot," Hikari agreed. "I don't think I've ever seen heat like this."

She, having viewed the world through a very tiny hole for almost all of her life, didn't know very much about beauty. Things like that had no place in her life up until now. But despite her lack of knowledge in this area, she had full appreciation for Daisy's looks. Particularly in this moment, with so much of her body on display to see, she could get a full appreciation for her hourglass figure, a sizable chest thinning out into a very lean waist, doubtlessly the product of countless hours of hard work on her part. Her legs were long and smooth, now all the more obvious with nothing covering either of them. Hikari knew enough to know that this was a stunningly beautiful woman.

"You know, you've really added something to the group," Daisy said, still looking over at Hikari. "I'm serious, it's great that Takeru brought you along. Your perspective has just been such a fun addition. You kind of stand out."

"Uh, I...I don't know if I even have much of a perspective," Hikari said, nevertheless smiling under Daisy's kind words. She had known people like Daisy during her time at the Ridley estate, good-looking rich girls with snobby attitudes who seemed to make a hobby of looking down their nose at her and mistreating her at every turn. It was a real pleasure to be around one who had gone the exact opposite way with her.

"It's not something I ever really thought about, but...it's kind of cool, being around someone who didn't pop out of the womb into a pile of money. Maybe I spend too much time around people like that." She looked back up into the sky. "Must be horrible for you, surrounded by sarcastic pricks with rich parents."

"Oh, no!" Hikari said quickly. "No, I...I love it! You guys are so great, so nice to me, I like all you guys!" She swallowed down a bit. "W-well, I mean..."

"No, I get it," Daisy cut her off, giving a knowing smile.

Hikari nodded. "And...talk about standing out. You, you really stand out in that group," Hikari said, stomach fluttering just a little bit as she tried to pay some kind of meaningful compliment to Daisy.

"I suppose so," Daisy admitted. "Doesn't really feel like it after all these years." She put her hands up behind her head. "I suppose I'd slide right in with a group of girls who spent every afternoon at a nail salon a little bit better than with these guys." She sucked in her left cheek a bit inbetween her teeth. "You know what it was? How it happened?"

"Uh, no, ma'am," Hikari said.

Daisy licked her lips. "When I went to academy, I already had a golden ticket no matter what. My mother was a world-reknowned supermodel, millions on top of millions, and it was going to be a breeze for me to just follow that path. And I have. But at academy, I discovered a real affinity for mathematics. Had a real mind for numbers." She looked over at Hikari. "Nobody would expect that, right?"

"Well, why wouldn't they?" Hikari asked.

"You're very sweet," Daisy said. "When I left academy, I was first class in math. You want to talk about standing out, I was very noticable in those advanced placement courses. But anyway, Skyridge had a cheerleading squad, I ended up on it. Naturally." She grinned. "So at Skyridge, there's poker all over the place. A lot of the students played constantly, almost everyone played at least some. The girls on the cheerleading squad were no exception, and bless their hearts, they just did it for fun. They did it to be included." He grimaced. "None of them were good. Didn't really know what they were doing, forgive me for saying. Just donating money to the people who did know what they were doing. I don't think they minded, they were just having fun for the most part. But the people who did know what they were doing, the good players, even the capable players, they figured it out. Of course, that's what a poker player does, they figure out the players who have holes in their game and exploit those holes."

"Seems a little mean," Hikari said quietly, glancing over towards the closed glass door behind her.

"Poker's all about being mean," Daisy replied. "Even the name of the game. POKE er. You know? But, after realizing that most of the capable poker players at Skyridge were treating the cheerleading squad like money machines, I realized something. What if I was actually good at poker?" She nodded. "They'd never expect that, right? I'm just another blonde with a big chest who wants to try to make herself look cool at a poker table to fit in with everyone else. So, I studied the game, my math skills translated well, and I hit the felt. People thought was I was easy target, and those people lost a lot of money to me." She reached over, taking a sip from a glass of ice water. "And that's really kind of the sweetest thing in the world, isn't it? You sit down as another ditzy cheerleader, ready to give away her money, and you stand up having tripled your money in an hour and a half."

"That, uh...I can understand that. Sounds exciting," Hikari agreed.

"Most of them still didn't take me seriously," Daisy continued. "Even up until the day I left, I think some of them still saw me as a fish who had a horseshoe lodged in my rear, kept wanting to play me, thinking things would turn." She set the glass of water back down. "Frankly I'm still not sure if people take me seriously. I go play in the poker room at The Mecca sometimes, I still get the sense people think I'm just some rich model who wants to have some fun watching cards flip over." She cleared her throat. "I used to like it. Made it easier for me. Now? I think I'd rather have the respect my play deserves. That's the kind of stuff you can win at the world series that doesn't show up in the prize pool. Respect."

Hikari nodded. "I understand. Now that I've gotten some respect in recent weeks, I...I think I crave more of it."

Daisy gave a soft smile. "So what do you think of Takeru? Serving him, spending all that time with him, what do you think?"

"He's a hundred times better than any owner I've had before," Hikari said immediately. "That's for sure. He's done some really great things for me and my brother, I owe him a lot. I didn't know slaves got treated this well anywhere in the world."

"Yeah. He's a good guy. Believe me, I've seen enough of the world to know that he's about as good as it gets when it comes to treating his slaves good." Daisy sat up a little bit in the beach chair.

Hikari thought for a moment. There was a little more she could say, if she was being entirely truthful, but she wasn't sure if Daisy was someone who she could say it to. "Well...I suppose..."

"Has a little growing up to do, don't you think?" Daisy said suddenly, casting a quick look over her left shoulder to check the door.

"Hm?" Hikari perked up a little bit.

"Oh, just...Takeru. If you don't agree, that's fine, it's just...that lifestyle he's got. It's a little much."

Hikari, still throwing glances over her shoulder, looking out for her owner to suddenly show up at an unwelcome time, turned back to Daisy. "I...I mean..."

"I've noticed it," Daisy continued. "Don't worry, I won't tell him anything, it's between us, we're just talking. Some things about him frustrate me, lifestyle is a little gluttonous." Her nose wrinkled a bit. "Like the arrangement he's got with The Angels, honestly I don't even know how he's having fun with that at this point." She shrugged a bit. "What could be enjoyable about that after all this time? How can you get anything out of it?"

Hikari was quite happy that she wasn't the one who had to say anything. Still nervous about the conversation going in this direction, she gave a non-commital little nod.

"So yeah, I don't know how you feel about it. I'm not a fan, but what's it to me?" She pushed out a large breath. "So yeah. Some growing up to do. But he is just twenty."

"Yeah, I...I understand," Hikari said, not wanting to lead into the conversation with any specific words of her own.

"I mean, don't get me wrong. Me, him, Ken, Hido, Miyako, all of us, enough silver spoons to stock a soup kitchen. But he's on another level. He grew up in a circus, that's the best way to put it. Hopefully he grows out of some of it."

"Uh...yeah, I...I agree," Hikari said, finding herself comfortable enough to say at least that much.

"And hopefully I'm there when it happens," Daisy added, turning around to again look at the glass door, putting her sunglasses down her face a bit to look at it. "What do you think, Hikari? Girl like me, guy like him?"

Hikari was caught off guard by the sudden question, stammering out a couple sentence fillers. "O-oh. Well, I think...sounds good," she said, blurting out the first generic affirmative statement she could come up with. Truthfully, that wasn't exactly the first thing that came to her mind, but now wasn't the time to get in any sort of trouble.

"Well...if you can do anything to help him grow up a bit, you should do it." She smiled up at her. "You're smart, you know what's going on, I can tell."

"Uh...yeah," Hikari said, not really sure what Daisy was alluding to, but happy to just nod her head.

Daisy sighed. "Well, have fun watching Razz." She made a raspberry sounds with her mouth. "I'd rather have a tooth pulled than play Razz, can't imagine how bad watching it is."


	14. Continuation Bet

Chapter 14: Continuation Bet

Takeru bent down and pried up the corners of his two down cards.

"Alright, Takeru's got a nice Razz starting hand. He's got a six showing, and his hole cards are an ace and a three. He's got three cards to a six-low."

"I'm gonna raise it up," Takeru said, putting in two black chips.

"And he's going to indeed play, he raises. The bring-in bet was one hundred, so he matches that and raises another hundred. Takeru's been fairly anonymous over the last hour of this tournament, he's only really participated in a couple hands, these might be the best cards he's gotten since the first hour or so."

"Surrey folds, Watanabe folds, and...alright, Dan Jetten has to like that. He's got a five showing and a two and a three in the hole, three cards to a five-low. He's certainly in, he might even raise."

"Three hundred." Jetten threw in three black chips, letting them clatter into the middle of the table.

"He's drawing to the best possible hand in Razz, and when you have a hand like that, you push the action. In Razz, there's just no guarantee you're ever going to make your good hand, so if you can end a hand early, all the better."

"Ruth Jordan, she had to pay the bring-in bet, has a king showing and a pair of nines in the hole, one of the worst hands you can have in Razz, she's certainly not going to consider playing that."

Jordan tossed her three cards over to the dealer, using her forefinger to flick the one black chip out in front of her past the yellow line towards the middle. Takeru put out another black chip, signifying a call.

"Takeru, however, is in. He's a bit behind right now, but here's where Razz becomes such an aggravating game. Both players have very nice starting hands, but it's so easy to never make an actual good five card hand."

The dealer dealt out a seven to Takeru and an eight to Jetten.

"Fourth cards are out, and the tables have turned just a bit. It's still a pretty even match right now, but Takeru now has ace three six seven, so he's got four pretty low cards. A two, four, or five will give Takeru a seven low. Jetten's hand, two three five eight, gives him a draw to an eight low. Both players have to like that card."

"Now, in Razz, betting begins with the lowest hand showing. Takeru has six seven, Jetten has five eight, Takeru will act first. Look for him to push the action with such a promising hand."

"One hundred," Takeru quickly announced, placing out another black chip.

"Raise," Jetten countered after half a second, putting out two black chips.

"Both players love their hand, I don't blame them. And Takeru's frozen a bit, maybe a bit of hollywood here. He can see that Jetten has an eight showing, so he knows for a fact that he has the best hand right now since his highest card is a seven, and he has every reason to raise."

Takeru grimaced, shuffling his chips on the felt in front of him, thinking.

"So, as just about anyone knows, poker in general can be a frustrating game. What makes Razz a more extreme example of that? Let's talk about this for the viewers, I know a lot of younger players aren't familiar with Razz."

"Well, it's a lowball game, which I think is inherently a more frustrating game. Drawing to a low hand just goes against what most poker players know as proper poker strategy. But really, it's about how expensive it can be to actually make a good hand, and how many times a good starting hand gets completely blown up."

"Raise." Takeru tossed out two more black chips.

"And Takeru pushes it to three hundred, as he should do. Anyway, if you think about a game like Holdem, which is the game everyone knows, your starting hand can have a lot more value. The best starting hand in Holdem is two aces. If you get that hand, you know for a fact that you're going to have at least a pair of aces by the end. And a pair of aces is often strong enough to win a pot at showdown. That has immediate value."

"Call." Jetten made a single black chip offering.

"But in Razz, the best possible starting hand would be ace two three, but that hand is just potential. It doesn't have any showdown value yet. Yes, occasionally, you draw out a four and a five, making the best possible Razz hand. But sometimes, you get dealt face cards, or you get pairs. I mean, you might end up drawing out four kings in a row! And if something like that happens, your hand ends up being completely worthless with no chance of winning, even after starting out so well."

The dealer, flipping the cards up as she dealt them out, tossed Takeru a king and Jetten a three.

"And here's exactly what I'm talking about! Takeru gets dealt a king, the worst card in Razz since it's considered to be the biggest card in the deck. And Jetten gets a three, which is a good low card, but unfortunately he has a three in his hand already, so he's picked up a pair! This kind of stuff drives players mad!"

Takeru tapped the felt a few times.

"The good news for Takeru is that he HAS made a king low, so he's guaranteed to be able to make a hand with no pairs no matter what comes next. But with that king face up for everyone to see, Takeru knows it's going to be very hard to convince Jetten that he has a good hand, so he slows down."

Jetten put out two black chips.

"And Jetten fires two hundred. This is a good move by him. He has a pair of threes, but Takeru can't know that. One of his threes is face down. All Takeru can see is a five, an eight, and a three, so for all Takeru knows Jetten has already made an eight low, or some other strong Razz hand."

"I call," Takeru said, putting out two of his black chips.

"Takeru stays in, however, since he still has a draw to a seven low. At worst, Jetten has an eight low, so he's drawing to the best hand as of now."

Another card went out to both players. Takeru got the six, Jetten got the five.

"And the cruelty of Razz strikes yet again. Takeru pairs his six, Jetten pairs his five, and there's no secrets here! Takeru can look right across the table, and see that Jetten has two fives face up, and Jetten can also see Takeru's pair of sixes."

"Yup, Russ, this is Razz. You start out with so much potential, and it bottoms out on you as often as it works out well. Now, Takeru already made a qualifying low hand, so he doesn't have to worry about the pair. His hand is still a king low. But, the kid didn't improve his hand there, and he probably thinks he needs to improve in order to win. Jetten's hand also failed to improve, he's got a pair of threes."

Jetten again bet out two black chips. Takeru immediately matched the bet.

"Wow! That was a fast call by Takeru. I think he's trying to project strength, try to talk Jetten out of bluffing the seventh card. Takeru would prefer to not have to commit any more chips to this hand, he just wants to get to showdown and hope he wins. If Jetten is bluffing, and Takeru seems to suspect that's the case, he wants him to give up. That snap-call by Takeru was a message. It said, I know you're bluffing, don't try it again."

The dealer made the seventh cards both face down, shipping them over.

"Here comes the final card for both players. Jetten needs to improve to win, Takeru needs to improve to have any real confidence in his hand. Jetten is going to be first to act this time, with the lowest hand showing."

Slowly, Jetten looked down at a deuce.

"Oh, boy howdy, that's the kind of runout that makes a Razz player want to punch a hole in the wall! Jetten has every low card you could want in Razz, but he's paired up three times! He's got a pair of threes, a pair of fives, AND a pair of twos!"

"Perfect example of what makes Razz so frustrating. Jetten started out with loads of potential to make a great low hand, and when the smoke cleared, his final hand is a pair of deuces with a three five eight."

Jetten, however, was seemingly unfazed, putting a pair of black chips out in front.

"But Jetten isn't going to give up. There's quite a bit in that pot, and Takeru might not have a good hand either, he's gonna try to bluff at it. Let's find out about Takeru."

Takeru, holding his fingers on top of his final card, watched Jetten place out his bet, then bent down to look at what he had been dealt.

"And Takeru has...he's got a jack! So his hand DOES improve, his best five card hand is now a jack low. But in the world of Razz, jack low is a pretty mediocre hand, and doesn't win very many pots. All Takeru can beat here is a bluff. As it turns out, that's just what Jetten has."

Takeru glared over the table at Jetten, trying to piece together the logic of the hand.

"All Takeru has to do is risk another two hundred chips. The pot is nearly two thousand chips. But Takeru doesn't want to lose another two thousand chips if he can avoid it. So this isn't an easy call to make with a jack low."

Takeru stared at Jetten's up cards. Five, eight, five, three.

"The pair of fives aside, that's a really good quartet of upcards for Jetten. He could easily have made an eight low or better, all he would need to have is two cards smaller than an eight that didn't pair him face down. I don't know what he's gonna do."

"I mean, obviously I look pretty weak with a king and a pair face up," Takeru said, breaking the icy silence that had engulfed the table for the last minute or so. "You could have quads and still bet there." Takeru pushed out two black chips.

"You win," Jetten said quietly, face wrinkled with irritation. "I have a pair of deuces. I have three pair."

Takeru flipped over his down cards, showing a made jack low, taking the hand.

"And nice call by Takeru there! He was getting a great price, but he correctly realized, that since his face up cards included a king and a pair of sixes, it was much more likely Jetten would be trying to bluff him. He actually had a pretty good hand given his up cards, and he thought Jetten was bluffing here often enough to make it profitable."

"Oh, why do I play this damn game," Jetten groaned. "You gotta be crazy to play this game."

"I've been playing this game for forty years," an elderly short man in thick glasses said from two chairs to the left of Jetten. "And I agree with you."

"Heh, that's...that's Kyle Weller, voicing his agreement."

"Well, Russ, if you ever walked into a card room and saw a group of angry looking old people in the corner, playing a card game you didn't recognize at one of the tables, they were probably playing Razz. And if you ever wondered why those old people were so angry, it's because they were playing Razz. That hand right there was a great example of why."

OOO

~Takeru~

"I think it's a great game, don't understand all the hate." Ken shrugged, hands in his pockets, looking around the poker room.

"Yeah, well, good for you," Takeru grunted.

"I love lowball games," Ken continued. "It's kind of like an untapped market, since so many people don't play them, and a lot of people don't play them well."

"What table are you at now?" Takeru asked.

"I'm over on table two," Ken answered. "Sammy is too, he was down to like three hundred chips, managed to win four straight hands. He's got four thousand. I've got seven thousand."

"I'm on vapors," Takeru said. "I've got three bring-ins left, twelve hundred chips." He thought for a moment. "How many left in the field?"

"I just checked the board, we're down to fifty-five players," Ken said. "Top forty-five cash, we're close."

"I need to make a move soon." Takeru nodded, putting his hands up on the rail. "Can't make the money if I don't chip up soon." He reached over to his right, holding his fist out towards Hikari right next to him. "Give me some love, Hikari, I'm gonna need it and I need it fast."

Hikari reached out and rubbed her palms over Takeru's fist for a quick second. "You can do it, sir. If anyone can do it, it's you."

"Thanks so much." Takeru looked up at the timer counting down right above table five. "Alright, I'm back on in thirty seconds. Good luck, Ken. And send my regards to Sammy." He leapt over the railing, hustling back over to his chair to the right of the dealer.

"Alright folks, we'll get another hand in the air in a few seconds," the dealer announced as Takeru sat down.

"How much you got there, Takeru?" A female player, Kelly Spiro, three seats away leaned forward, looking over at Takeru's stack of black chips.

"Not much," Takeru replied. "I've got three bring-ins left, twelve hundred."

"Ten off the money," she said. "You know, I'd hate to be the person who kept you from making history."

"Well, these things happen, you can't sweat it," Takeru replied. "I've already made history anyway. Got no problem with getting felted here if it happens."

The cards were whisked from the dealer, everyone getting two cards face down and a card face up. Takeru surveyed the table, relieved to see that his face up nine was not the highest visible card, thus meaning he didn't have to pay the bring-in.

Slowly, he pried up his two face down cards. Ace three.

"Yeah, I'm folding." Another player tossed his cards over to the dealer. Quickly, the player to Takeru's right also folded, leaving him to ponder his move. He had four black chips in his hand, switching them around from hand to hand.

"I call." Takeru flipped the four black chips across the line. He sat back, waiting for the action to wrap up, hoping nobody raised.

"Four players. Sixteen hundred in the pot," the dealer announced after a minute. He dealt out face up cards to each of the four remaining. Takeru was treated to a six, giving him a draw to a nine low.

"I check," Kelly said, pointing over to Takeru. He took the opportunity to look around the table. Three other players. Kelly Spiro, and two players on the other side of the table. David Fletcher and Guy Francois. David was showing an ace and an eight, Guy a seven and a ten, and Kelly displayed a two and a jack.

The pieces came together in his head. David's initial upcard was an ace, so for him to not raise his hole cards must have not been very good. Francois and Kelly could not have liked getting dealt a ten and a jack. Certainly he was in good shape.

"Bet." Takeru took half of his remaining chips and put them in. "I've got four hundred left," he added, knowing that people would want to know how much trouble they could be in if they stuck around.

David sighed. "I mean...an eight is right on that line. If it's a little better, I'm in for sure. A little worse, I'm out for sure." He shrugged, throwing four chips in. "Alright, I call." Guy was quick to fold behind, putting the action to Kelly.

"Sure." She put four chips in as well, surprising Takeru a bit.

A fifth card went out to each player, Takeru pulling in a queen. He now had a qualifying low hand, but it wasn't a particularly strong one, a queen low. David had received an ace, pairing his low card, and Kelly had nabbed a seven.

Kelly tapped the felt a few times. Takeru, considering the stack of black in front of him, decided there was no way he wasn't going to get it in here one way or another and slowly picked them up.

"All-in," he said, putting out the four blacks.

"Alright, I've seen enough," David said, throwing his cards over to the dealer. "Even for that price, I don't beat anything."

Kelly nodded. "Man, I said what I said right before this hand, too, of course it would play out like this." She looked over at Takeru. "I think I have to call, buddy."

Takeru didn't react, just looking straight down at his cards.

She put out four more black chips, signifying her commitment to the remainder of the hand. "I've got a jack low."

"Jack low is ahead for now," Takeru said, turning over his two down cards. "Queen low." Kelly turned over a five and an six.

"All-in and a call," the dealer announced. "Sixth street on the way."

"Surprised you didn't raise on third street with that," Takeru said, looking over at Kelly's cards.

"I like to play tight on Razz," she said.

"Alright folks," the dealer said with a bit of a flourish. "We've got...queen nine six three ace up against jack seven six five two!" He threw out a card to Kelly, then one to Takeru. Takeru had gotten a two, giving him a nine low, but to his mild dismay, Kelly had received a three, giving her the superior seven low.

"That was a pretty good deal," Kelly said, setting her sixth card up on the board. "Alright, you need a...four or a five to take the lead."

Takeru nodded. "Hey, it's up to the deck now, nothing we can do."

The dealer dealt out a card to each of the players, this one face down, hiding Takeru's fate from the world for a moment.

"You go first," Kelly said. "Let me know if I have to look."

Takeru bent down a bit, slowly lifting the corner of the card up. He put his thumb up on the corner so he couldn't see the card value yet.

"Ooh, two across!" Takeru said, looking at the two diamonds that were visible along the left side of the card. "If this is a four you're drawing dead, if it's a five you need...an ace to win I think."

Without checking, he turned the card face up, flipping it up into the air and letting it land in the middle of the table, showing a four.

"We've got a six four three two ace," the dealer said, putting the card back over in front of Takeru. Kelly, having already been guaranteed a loss, turned over a meaningless ten.

"Alright, nice hand, that was a fun one," Kelly said, watching the pot of three thousand chips go over Takeru's way.

"Well. Puts me back in the hunt." Takeru began to stack the pile of black chips.

OOO

"Ah, I've got paint," Takeru said, whipping the card up to show a king to the table. "No way I'm good, you've got it."

The player to Takeru's right flipped over a six, an ace, and an eight. "Nine low."

"Yeah, I've got...I guess I've got a king low." Takeru stood up. "Alright man, good playing." He shook his hand, then turned back to the rail.

"Hey, you're the first ever to cash at all four thousand dollar events!" Another player shouted out from the other side of the table. Takeru turned back around to look at the player. "That's pretty sweet man!"

"It feels good," Takeru admitted. He walked over to the railing, stepping over it, out next to Hikari.

"Congratulations, sir," Hikari said.

"Thirty-fifth ain't so bad," Takeru replied, stretching his arms up high over his head. "Wow. That's like four straight days of nothing but cards. I've had sessions like that before, but man, they do have a way of taking it out of you."

"You've done incredibly well," Hikari added. "Even I can see that."

Takeru looked up at the wall clock. "Wow, got some time to kill tonight. That'll be nice. What are we gonna do?" He thought for a second, looking around the room at the four remaining tables in the tournament. "Well. Gotta relax, and...hey, Hikari." He looked over at her. "I think I already know the answer to this, but...you ever gotten a massage before?"

OOO

~Hikari~

The first minute or two was actually unpleasant. Kind of stressful, really.

And then, as soon as she talked herself into relaxing her body, it was heaven.

Takeru had hung around long enough to see Ken go out in twenty-eighth and Sammy exit in twenty-first. After that, it was time to have some fun. He had gone up to his overly spacious hotel room and ordered an entire table loaded with assorted foods, as well as a giant cooler full of drinks. With such a bounty of nourishment, it took no goading for all of Takeru's friends to show up, and the large chamber was filled with activity. Takeru had even managed to draw Koushiro to the event, running into him at the tail end of the Razz tournament and tempting him with food and drink. Mimi wasn't going to be left out either, and had shown up too.

Takeru had also requested the presence of four licensed masseuses, and so their little get-together also included a quartet of middle-aged men and women in casino uniforms, hard at work on anyone who requested service. At Takeru's suggestion, Hikari had given it a spin. Climbing onto a bizarre bench-chair hybrid that allowed her body to lean forward a bit without having her be entirely prone, a woman a few inches taller than Hikari had started kneading her shoulders. After a few moments of discomfort, Hikari now found the experience to be fantastic. Strong, skilled fingers digging into her shoulders, getting down to the muscles below, relieving tension. The decades of hard work she had been put through with no regard for her well-being could never be undone by a massage session, but at least in the short term, she found that it felt very good.

As she was receiving the treatment, she kept her head up, looking out onto the room of people, still intrigued by the dynamics of the people in front of her and wanting to watch the evening play out. Koushiro, being the apparent celebrity that he was, had attracted the most attention, as everyone wanted a chance to talk with him. He seemed quite content to sit back on the couch, his bare feet up on one of the ottoman's, receiving a massage from one of the professionals, and interact with anyone who wanted to.

"I remember spectatoring your heads up match against Mister Quads, the five hundred thousand dollar buyin one, I watched the whole thing. Couldn't put you on hands, spent the whole thing trying to figure out what you were doing, couldn't do it. You steamrolled him, took like twenty minutes." Yuma shook his head, grinning. "You were...what, nineteen then? Nineteen year old kid, goes on the forums and says he'll take on anyone heads up for half a million, and you just completely wreck one of the biggest heads up specialists in the world."

"Not sure which one you're talking about," Koushiro replied, lifting a thin glass bottle to his face up and sipping from it. "Me and Mister Quads battled at least six times before he gave up."

"I think it was the first one. That one was a big deal, the whole academy was buzzing the day it went down." Yuma was seated on another couch that made a kitty corner with the one Koushiro was on. "Watching you play poker was...it's was an experience, I learned a lot. I think everyone here learned a lot."

"Believe me man, I wasn't the first one to play poker like that," Koushiro insisted. "Maybe I was the first one to make millions of dollars doing it, but...I'm sure I wasn't the first one." He leaned back, clearly enjoying the massage.

Ken came up behind the couch, holding a glass bottle in his right hand. "Your forum posts on checkback boards changed my life man. Heads up play was never the same for me after reading those posts."

"Maybe I shouldn't have made those posts," Koushiro said. "Could have kept all that to myself. It's like, so many players have gotten so much better over the last six years, maybe I had something to do with that."

"Well, posts like that made you a celebrity, believe me." Ken smirked. "Stuff like that got you on the television shows, might have been worth it, even if it made everyone else a better player."

"I'm not sure that's good either," Koushiro replied. "On TV, everyone sees your cards, helps them see how you play. Sometimes I wonder." He pointed down at the masseuse. "This is awesome, by the way, I didn't know you could get this sent up to your room."

"It's only offered to the deluxe suites," Takeru said, coming over and sitting down in one of the chairs close to the couch, holding a small plate of caviar. "Where you staying during the world series?"

Koushiro gave a tiny smile. "Not in one of these, that's for sure. If it was up to me, I'd just get a cardboard box in the alleyway behind The Horseshoe, for all the time I'd be spending in my room." He looked over his shoulder, pointing his thumb at Mimi. "But she wasn't having it."

"Darn right," Mimi said back, conversing with Daisy by the glass door leading out to the balcony, turning her head over to look at her boyfriend. "Someone has to save you from yourself."

"Come on, man, you've got truckloads and truckloads of money." Akira came over from the kitchen counter, holding a plate of beef sliders. "You can splurge on a nice hotel room for a couple months."

Koushiro shrugged. "I grew up in a lower class suburb in Leavensworth. I'm still developing my taste for the finer things in life."

"And I'm working very hard to develop that taste as fast as I can." Mimi slowly walked over towards the couch. "Lord knows he needs it, with all that money in the bank." She put her hands down on the top of the backrest of the couch. "If it wasn't for me, Koushiro would be showing up to these poker tournaments in a white tanktop with grease stains, sweatpants, and flip-flops."

"That's an exaggeration," Koushiro insisted, lazily pointing his left index finger up towards Mimi's face. "Though that does sound comfortable, I might play better wearing that."

Mimi rolled her eyes, then reached over the back of the couch, pulling the bottle of beer from his hand. She lifted it up to her lips, taking a drag from it, then replacing it back in his hand.

"You're welcome," Koushiro said dryly.

"I'm checking to be sure," Mimi said, a sardonic grin on her face. "When I met this guy, he was worth fifteen million dollars and he was drinking Monico brand beer."

"What the hell is Monico?" Ken asked, looking over at Mimi.

"It's store brand beer, they sell it at Quik-N-Go. It's like, four dollars for a six pack, tastes like urine."

"Hey, gimme a break," Koushiro said defensively. "I grew up eating ramen packs five times a week. Monico is what my father drank, I have an immense amount of respect for my father, I wanted to be like him."

Mimi reached her hands over, putting them on Koushiro's head, digging her fingers down into his scalp. "Well, that's because your father was a misunderstood genius who got stuck teaching math at a two-star academy and making thirty-five thousand a year, sweetie. He didn't drink it because he wanted to, he drank it because he had to."

Hikari gave a small smile from her seat on the massage chair. There was something very charming about the relationship that Koushiro and Mimi seemed to have. She enjoyed watching them interact.

"You know something, Prodigious, I had a huge crush on you when I was at academy." Daisy joined the conversation, stepping over to the couch. Daisy was clearly not afraid to be a bit bold, and had come to the get-together wearing the exact same bikini she had been wearing earlier in the day, adding only a very thin, red jacket over her shoulders that only went down to her mid-stomach to up her modesty ever-so-slightly.

"Well, you should have come and found me then," Koushiro said, tilting his head back to look at Daisy. "I only met Mimi two years ago, you missed your window."

"Thin ice, darling," Mimi said warningly. "Alert the fish, you're on thin ice with that."

"No no, that's the thing, I couldn't have!" Daisy continued. "This was when I was fifteen, sixteen, when your legend online was just...blowing up, back when people didn't know who you were or anything. When you were just an internet account making millions of dollars. I mean, that's it, I had a crush on Prodigious."

"So what, you...had a thing for my account avatar?" Koushiro gave a little laugh.

"I had a thing for the guy who was revolutionizing poker," Daisy said.

"And then, obviously, when you found out what I looked like, boom, no more crush," Koushiro said sarcastically.

"Well, obviously," Daisy said with a grin. "I mean, you started showing up at live games, and poof, gone."

"Oh, you think he's ugly now, you should have seen him before I came along," Mimi said, continuing the line of joking insults. "You have no idea."

"Right." Daisy pulled her small jacket off her shoulders. "Hey there." She waved over at one of the masseuses who was unoccupied at the moment. "I should warn you, back at home, my mother has a full-time masseuse employed, and he is phenomenal, so...I have high expectations."

"I thrive under pressure, ma'am," he replied, waving her over towards his massage chair.

"So, the fireworks really kick off tomorrow," Takeru said.

"Fireworks?" Sammy, holding a large plate of breaded shrimp in his right hand, came over. "Listen to this guy, he's won a bracelet, has profitted nearly three hundred thousand dollars, and he's acting like there haven't been fireworks."

"Hey, Abaid, you know the ocean called, they're running out of shrimp." Daisy slid into the massage chair, shooting Sammy a playful grin.

"How about, the world series of poker called, they're running out of cashes," Sammy said, pointing at Takeru.

"Yeah, but...tomorrow. Tomorrow, the real money starts flowing in. Twenty-five hundred buyins, five thousand, ten thousand ones down the line, gets juicy fast. Plus we've got more people coming in every day." Takeru nodded. "It only gets harder."

"You aren't the one who has to worry about that," Daryl said, joining the conversation from behind the couch. "You're the one who's guaranteed profit no matter what happens now. You could bomb out of the first hand in every tournament the whole rest of the way."

"That isn't the plan, though," Takeru replied. "I mean, already, I'm not just...Hiroaki's son anymore. They don't think of me as Hiroaki's son, they think of me as Takeru. And that's just after four days."

"Hey, preaching to the choir," Sammy said, pointing at himself. "Think about what I have to accomplish to get out of my father's shadow."

"If I don't win a bracelet this year, I'm gonna look like the biggest asshole on the planet," Koushiro said, pulling a couple of breaded shrimp off a plate that Mimi had brought over. "Like, I have practically no world series experience, I don't like my tournament play, and out of the blue I just put up a million dollar bet on winning the biggest award in poker."

"Well, dear, you...could have just not made the bet," Mimi said, the latter portion of her sentence coming out through gritted teeth.

"You're gonna like it a lot more when I'm getting a five million dollar deposit in a couple months," Koushiro replied. "That's, like, one and a quarter million six packs of Monico."

"Well, you know I'm rooting for you." Takeru leaned back in his chair. "Of course, if it ever happens that...we're heads up for a bracelet in one of these tournaments...I won't be giving it away."

"Of course not," Koushiro replied. "Wouldn't want you to. I believe in myself, I believe in my ability, and I believe in taking big risks to win big."

"Man, I knew I'd be seeing some big timers here at this world series, but...having dinner with Prodigious," Ken said, looking practically giddy. "I mean, honestly, I think it's weird to talk to a guy while he's getting a massage, I think that's...kind of an intimate thing. Like how you wouldn't start talking to a guy in a public restroom when he's at an urinal. But I'm just so excited to talk to this guy, I don't even care, I'm talking to him no matter what he's doing."

"Hey, your friend might really be better than me, I'm just saying." He pointed at Takeru. "He's cashed in four out of four tournaments. You guys should be geeking out with him."

Takeru gave a big laugh. "Don't even...don't even try that, buddy. As of right now, you're a legend. And I'm just some punk kid who has a bracelet along with...thousands of others throughout history."

"You impress me, my friend," Koushiro insisted. "I watched some of the big hands you had in the one thousand Holdem and Omaha events, I think you're real good."

"Easy to look good when you've been getting some of the cards I've gotten," Takeru said. "And when did you have time to watch my hands?"

"I don't sleep very much," Koushiro replied. "I'm just trying to live and breathe poker for a couple months here."

"Yeah, I can attest to that," Mimi said. "Don't know how he's alive, much less able to play good poker."

"Plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead," Koushiro replied.

"That's the spirit," Takeru said with a small grin.

OOO

"I didn't think I would like it as much as I did," Hikari said, stretching her back out. The final remains of the party food had just been taken out of the front door, officially ending the evening of fun and relaxation.

"Hey, whenever you want another, all you gotta do is ask," Takeru said. "Least I can do with all the good fortune you've been bringing."

Hikari smiled. "You're making your own luck, sir."

Takeru clapped a couple times. "Man, I...I knew there was a chance I'd see him, but having dinner with him, talking with him...Koushiro Izumi hanging out in my hotel room, I wouldn't have even imagined it."

"He seemed like a very nice guy," Hikari agreed.

"He has that reputation," Takeru said. "Even as he's taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from you, he's very polite and nice about it." He looked up at the wall clock. "Alright, even after all that, we can both be asleep before ten."

"Sounds good to me sir," Hikari replied, walking over towards the staircase leading up to the bedrooms.

"I'll meet you up there in five minutes," Takeru said, unbuttoning his shirt and walking over towards the bathroom.

Hikari, about to step on the first step, froze, turning over his shoulder to look at Takeru. "...uh-huh." She could feel her heart sink a bit as she quickly realized what Takeru must be indicating. She watched him disappear into the restroom, closing the door behind him, then turned to look up the stairs. The climb suddenly seemed much steeper than it had just five seconds ago. With a grimace, she began to slowly make the ascent anyway.

OOO

Hikari laid back in her bed, hands up behind her head, looking up at the ceiling with wide eyes. Every few seconds, she blinked. Her mind was buzzing, the opposite of what she wanted as she tried to get to sleep.

Takeru had came and gone, the entire process efficient and swift. He had entered the room, wordlessly gotten into the bed, and gotten right down to business. She played her part well, and he reciprocated. He was clearly skilled and experienced, and Hikari could appreciate that.

But she just couldn't get any enjoyment out of it.

And now, with Takeru having left when the deed was done, she couldn't stop trying to figure it all out. Did she reject how empty and meaningless this arrangement felt? Something like that. His mannerisms before and after the act seemed to say it all. Nothing to it. Just something you did, like taking out the garbage or doing the laundry. Not all how she imagined it. Not at all what she wanted.

Should she have ever imagined something like this at all? Maybe not. She had always thought her life would be nothing but endless days of servitude and labor, with no time for relationships beyond her brother. And here she was, getting massages and eating great food, asked to do practically nothing, and having occasional sex with her owner. It should have been a dream come true. And most of it was.

Yet, it left her wanting. More than that, she didn't like it. And through it all, those words from Daisy earlier in the day kept running through her mind. If you can do anything to help him grow up a bit, you should do it.

What did that mean, and what could she do? Was this even what she was talking about?

All of this prevented any immediate sleep. She rolled over onto her side, sighing. Part of her felt rather greedy, to be so upset over something like this given where she was a month ago. But she was sure this wasn't what she wanted. She was sure this just wasn't right.

What to do about it?


	15. Balance

Chapter 15: Balance

"He's been playing world series events for nearly fifty years now, he's cashed over a hundred and fifty times, and he just keeps on punching in more good performances. Amazing story. Don Brown, the Godfather of Poker."

"Well, that's certainly the old school of poker right there with Don. As this new table of players gets together, let's talk about the new school, because we've got a great representation of that sitting down here. Takeru Ishida, here in seat six, we're covering table fourteen here today. Let's talk about this kid for a bit, though we've been doing enough of that lately."

Takeru had a half-stack of silver and gold chips in his hand, cutting the stack of ten in half, then shuffling them back into one, repeated this over and over, as the cards were dealt out.

"Alright Tom, I got no problem talking about this kid, it's a very fun run he's on. We're just about two weeks into this world series, we've played through a total of sixteen tournaments. Takeru has played in all of them. He has seven cashes! Seven! Of course, he really hit big with the bracelet win in the thousand dollar Holdem, but he also cashed in our three other thousand dollar starter tourneys. Since then, he's taken home cash prizes in the twenty-five hundred Omaha Hi-Lo, the fifteen hundred turbo No Limit Holdem, and the twenty-five hundred Limit Holdem, and now he's on the verge of cashing here, in the five thousand Pot Limit Holdem!"

Two seats to the right of Takeru, a large man with a bald head looking down at his two cards before reaching out to put down a silver and gold chip alongside his ante of five black chips.

"That's...Robert Cishek, of the Cishek family that has such a significant presence in the poker world, on the button with a raise to ten thousand. Robert's play style is best described as maniacal, he could get dealt two traffic tickets and would still raise from the button when it folds around to him. He's got the ace of spades and the four of hearts, which is actually closer to the top of his button opening range."

The small blind to Takeru's right folded, leaving the action on the blond.

"Takeru's in the big blind, so he already has just shy of five thousand chips committed to this hand with his ante, and he's got the ace of diamonds and the ten of spades. Again a maniac like Cishek, that's more than enough to make this call."

Takeru reached past the yellow line, dropping off a silver and gold chip as well as taking back five blacks.

"Takeru might actually miss his first tournament of this world series due to overlap. He bought into the three thousand Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo, which started awhile ago a few floors up in The Horseshoe. His chips are currently being blinded out. He might end up getting to play in it if he busts out here in the next couple hours, but that's not looking very likely. Of course, if he does well in this tournament, he's not going to mind very much."

The dealer, gathering in several purple ante chips and the two multi-colored chips from Takeru and Robert, put down the queen of diamonds, eight of clubs, and seven of hearts. Takeru was quick to tap the felt.

"Once again, we're playing a five thousand dollar buyin tournament, the game is Pot Limit Holdem. We had over sixteen hundred entrants, we're down to two hundred and fifty, and the top two hundred and forty-three cash. We've got two pretty big stacks here, Takeru has one hundred and fifty eight thousand, Robert has one hundred and twelve thousand. Blinds are two and four thousand, ante is five hundred."

Robert, considering things for some time, put out another silver and gold chip along with a purple one, pumping the pot up yet again.

"Robert missed the flop, he's got ace high with no draw, but he continuation bets all the same. Which is pretty much what he always does. And Takeru also missed that flop, his hand is fractionally better, but he also has ace high with no draw, so he might ditch this one."

Takeru sucked his cheek inbetween his teeth, carefully considering his options.

"Might be contemplating a raise here, put Cishek to the test. You know, I don't want to jinx it, but the record for most cashes in a single world series of poker is fifteen. Takeru, should he not completely implode here, will get to eight today. It's in play!"

Takeru flipped out a silver-and-gold chip along with a purple, calling Robert's bet.

"Weird decision, Takeru just flats the eleven grand. If he doesn't catch a ten or an ace on the turn, I don't see how he sticks around if Cishek bets again, so most of the time he's just giving away eleven grand. Sure, Robert would make this play with literally any two cards, but one of those cards could be a queen. Even if he does have nothing, it's going to be tough for Takeru to stick around since he also has nothing."

With a burn card down, the dealer presented the six of hearts to the board.

"Six of hearts on the turn, that's an interesting card. Takeru has a ten, so now a nine gives him a straight. Robert has a four, so a five would give him a straight. Takeru still leads, his nothing is slightly better than Robert's nothing."

Takeru tapped the felt a few times, giving the reigns back over to Robert.

"It's actually kind of bold for Takeru to buy in to tournaments that he might never get to play in. We've seen players do it before, but it's usually the old-timers who have built massive bankrolls over the years, not from the kids who are just starting out. Takeru actually ran into this a few days ago, he was still in the twenty-five hundred Limit Holdem event when a fifteen hundred Omaha event started. Ended up cashing in that first event and showed up to the second event after losing a decent chunk of his stack."

Robert tapped the felt a couple times as well.

"Robert hits the brakes. Doesn't want to get check-raised here, Takeru could easily have made a straight on the turn. Forty-seven thousand five hundred chips in this pot, very significant amount of chips."

The dealer completed the board, an irrelevant two of clubs.

"The river bricks out for both players. Takeru has the best hand thanks to his ten, but both holding ace high. Takeru checks quickly, hoping for a free showdown."

Robert looked over at his opponent, shuffling chips, thinking hard.

"Well, it's on Cishek. If he thinks Takeru has a seven in his hand, he should probably bet to try to get him off it. If he thinks Takeru has a nine or five and missed his straight draw, he may as well check since ace high would be good. As it turns out, neither case is true, and I don't see how Robert could know that. As it turns out, Takeru is holding a slightly superior ace high."

Robert flipped out two silver and gold chips along with a purple chip.

"And there goes a twenty-one thousand chip bluff. He's trying to get Takeru to fold a small or middle pair. Takeru doesn't have a pair, so this bluff should work."

Takeru grimaced, shuffling chips around in his right hand as he looked down at the board.

"Well, he's not folding. And I don't think Takeru is the kind to hollywood, so he's actually thinking about raising. If he can muster up the courage to raise, this hand is certainly over."

"Wow," Takeru said quietly.

"Well, Takeru checked the turn and river, so Robert is pretty much positive he can't have a straight, so this is a reasonable bluff. But Takeru must be thinking that there aren't many good hands that Cishek can have in this spot, and there are a lot of bluffs."

Takeru reached over to his stack, pulling off two multi-colored chips and a purple, not yet committing them. He held the three chips in his hand, blinking a couple times.

"And Takeru just cut out CALLING chips, so he's actually considering just calling this I guess. Contemplating a call with ace high, he must really think that Robert can't have a hand here. This would be quite a hero call."

Takeru shoved his hand forward, dropping the chips across the yellow line.

"And he's called! He's called with ace high, and he's right!"

"You win," Cishek said, shoulders slumping a bit.

"Are you sure?" Takeru said, flipping over his ace ten. "Ace ten."

"Oooohh my God," Robert groaned, picking up his cards and turning over his slightly inferior hand of nothing. "Oh my GOD!" He gave a small laugh. "What a CALL! Wow!"

"Both players had zilch, the pot somehow managed to balloon up to nearly ninety thousand...and Takeru makes an amazing soul read!"

"I was trying to get you to fold...like, pocket fives or a seven," Robert said, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling.

"That would be a pair," Takeru said with a grin. "I don't even have a pair and I'm still calling." He pointed across his body, over at Robert. "Only against you, buddy, I know how you play."

"Takeru could have lost nearly fifty thousand chips in that hand AND looked like a giant donkey, but instead, he ends up making the right call, and he's up to two hundred grand! Say what you will about the kid getting great cards in this world series, but on that one, he didn't need them."

OOO

"Three to the flop. Takeru currently has the best hand with pocket fours, but he's out of position. Michael Pineda and Francis Ezeli are in the hand with him, Pineda has an offsuit ace king, and Ezeli has king ten, both diamonds."

The dealer, gathering all the chips in the middle, dealt out three community cards. King of hearts, eight of clubs, four of spades.

"King eight four, Pineda and Ezeli both flop top pair, but Takeru has the biggest hammer with bottom set! Great flop for Ishida!"

Takeru checked, tapping the felt a couple times.

"And Takeru is laying out a trap! He's got nearly two hundred thousand chips, Ezeli has eighty thousand and Pineda is down to forty-two, so he wants to try to get at least one of them to lead into the pot."

Ezeli was next to act, who immediately began looking over his chip stack.

"And Ezeli is contemplating a donk bet. Pineda was the preflop raiser, when you bet the flop before the preflop raiser has a chance to act, it's called a donk bet."

Finally, Ezeli checked, tapping the felt a few times.

"Change of heart from Ezeli, he checks. He's got the worst hand right now, but he's pretty much in the same boat as Pineda, both of them in horrible shape against Takeru's set of fours. Can't imagine he's going to check fold this, you can't flop top pair and just fold."

Pineda, the action going to him in the cutoff, was quick to cut out a full stack of purple chips, adding an additional five purple chips to the top of the stack, and shoving the tower in.

"Pineda bets twenty-five thousand, about half the pot. He can't be blamed for thinking he has the best hand, top pair and top kicker, but he's drawing super thin. Needs to make runner-runner full house. Now, Takeru can either call or shove here, but his hand is so strong, I favor a smooth call to try to get Ezeli hooked as well."

"I call." Takeru put out two silver-and-gold chips, along with five purples.

"Takeru flats. That might get Ezeli involved. And there's really only two things he can do here. He can throw his hand away, or he can go all-in. Don't see him just calling."

"Alright. I'm all-in," Ezeli said, pushing the remainder of his stack in.

"And there he goes. Pineda will have to go all-in to call, and I can't imagine he won't."

"Yeah, I'm all-in," Pineda said quickly, shoving his entire stack in as well.

"There he goes, and now Takeru just has to swing the axe."

Takeru stood up from his chair, looking back and forth between his two opponents in the hand. "I think I have you guys crushed, but I'm not sure."

"Takeru does have both of his opponents crushed. And as someone who can see the cards, I am sure. But Takeru is considering pocket eights or pocket kings, which would have HIM crushed."

"Well..." Takeru put his hand up on top of his head, scratching it. "Okay." He pointed at Ezeli. "Limp-call. Something like...king queen, king jack. King something for sure. But..." He turned his gaze over to Pineda. "Hopefully you've got ace king."

"Takeru is reading well, he's got both of his opponents pegged on almost their exact hand."

"Alright. If I'm wrong, it's a big blow, but I gotta do it." Takeru nodded to himself. "I call." He waved his hand forward.

"I'm assuming you can beat ace king?" Pineda turned over that exact hand. Takeru leaned over and grabbed his cards, showing his set.

"Oooof." Ezeli turned over his last place hand. "Alright, need a king or a ten!" He stood up, looking over at the dealer. "Come on, man, you gotta at least bring a king on the turn for a sweat."

"Damn, I would have just gone all-in preflop if it wasn't pot-limit," Pineda said, also standing up. "You call me if I shove, Ishida?"

"Probably...probably not. I'm not sure though, you only had eight bigs left."

The dealer put down a six of spades, officially ending the hand.

"And with that six on the turn, both Pineda and Ezeli are drawing stone dead! Takeru chips up yet again! We're down to less than two hundred players, and the Takeru Ishida express rolls on!"

OOO

"Twenty-seven players left in our five thousand dollar Pot Limit Holdem tournament, down to three full tables. We're back from dinner break, bringing you coverage from table one. We've got three big time vets at this table, Daniel Karns, Phillip Hill, and Teresa Hoffman. We've also got two twenty-year-olds, childhood friends, Takeru Ishida and Samuel Abaid. Fun little table we've put together here."

"Hey, I was ready to retire from poker after those first two weeks," Sammy said, a big smile on his face as he looked around the table. "I was embarrassed, I can't go home to my father with those results!"

"Samuel talking about the big shoes he has to fill. His father is Joseph Abaid, a big time cash game player and someone with a couple bracelets to his name. Samuel had cashed in the thousand dollar Razz, but this is his first really big showing so far. He has guaranteed a cash of over thirty-two grand here, but he is down to about seven big blinds."

"Reminds me of when I was at academy," one of the other players chimed in. "My parents were both super smart, a lot to live up to."

"Blinds are now at eight and sixteen thousand, antes are at two thousand, so every hand is significant, especially at a full nine player table. Alright, we're underway here, Takeru is in the small blind and Samuel in the big blind."

The cards were distributed out to each player.

"The tournament average is currently a bit over three hundred thousand, so most remaining players do have some wiggle room. But you'll definitely see some nitty plays as players try to assure themselves a seat at the final table."

The action was quick, everyone folding in short order after the briefest of peeks at their cards.

"And it would seem nobody has anything. Sammy would love to see everyone just fold, scooping up the blinds and antes would be significant for him."

The button folded, leaving only Takeru and Sammy in the hand. Takeru couldn't help but smirk as he looked down at his cards. Six of hearts and seven of hearts.

"Small suited connectors for Takeru, he might complete the small blind and see a flop against his friend."

"Well, I can't miss this," Takeru said, taking eight black chips and tossing them out.

"You didn't have to call, buddy," Sammy said, looking down at his two cards. Ace of spades and two of diamonds. "I wouldn't have minded just taking it down."

"Why would I do what you want me to do?" Takeru said, looking over at Sammy. "It's poker, isn't it?"

Sammy tapped his knuckles on the table a couple times. "Well, I guess I wouldn't have it end any other way if it does end."

"Sammy checks his option with the ace rag. Would have probably liked his good buddy to just muck his hand and let him pick up the small pot, but no softplaying from Takeru."

"As there shouldn't be, Chris. Softplaying has no place in a poker tournament. These two guys can be friends anywhere else in the world, but at a poker table, you have to play your hand."

The dealer put down the flop. Three of diamonds, five of clubs, jack of clubs.

"Three five jack with two clubs on the flop. Sammy's ace high is currently in the lead, and both players have flopped a gutshot straight draw."

"This COULD get big. Both players need a four to make a straight, but should that four fall, Takeru's straight would be higher. Sammy is hoping he makes the wheel, a straight ace to five, and Takeru's aim is a bit higher, a straight three to seven."

Takeru tapped the felt a few times.

"Takeru checks. And Sammy should bet here, probably bet the pot. Sammy doesn't have many chips left, so Takeru would definitely fold, he's not getting the right implied pot odds to try to hit his straight. A big bet here would end it."

Sammy, however, checked, tapping the table with his fingers.

"Well, Sammy checks. In fairness to him, he can't see Takeru's hand, so he couldn't have known that betting was the best move. But now both players will see a turn card."

The burn card down, the dealer showed the four of spades.

"Whoa, there's the action card!"

Takeru still looked quite blank-faced and neutral after turning the nuts, waiting several seconds before tapping the felt again.

"Both players have made a straight, Takeru has the nut straight, and he checks. And Sammy can't win this hand at showdown, he's drawing dead, you have to believe this is it for him. He has to love his hand."

Sammy hollywooded for some time, staring at the board.

"Takeru would never have called from the small blind with six deuce, so the only hand Takeru could possibly have that beats Sammy is six seven. Can Sammy put him on that exact hand and get away from this?"

"I'm all-in," Sammy said, looking over to Takeru.

"Sorry man, I have the nuts," Takeru said quickly. "I call." He turned over his two cards, showing his made straight to the seven. "Flush draw?"

"I wish," Sammy said, race wrinkling up a bit as he saw Takeru's hand. He flipped over his two cards. "I made the wheel."

"Yikes." Takeru bit his lower lip apprehensively.

"And this river card will not matter, nothing can save Sammy here. He's been bounced in twenty-seventh place."

"Well, I'm used to him beating me," Sammy said, pointing his thumb over at Takeru as he stood up. "If it had to be someone, you know?"

Takeru stood up as well. "You bet the flop, I might just fold." He took one step over and gave Sammy a quick hug.

"I was just thinking that," Sammy lamented, returning the show of affection. "I just didn't want to commit to a pot with ace high and a gutshot, I knew you'd call with any pair."

"And Sammy's loss is Takeru's gain, he's in good shape with twenty-six remaining!"

OOO

~Takeru~

"Alright, I'm all-in," Takeru said, pushing his remaining chips out past the yellow line on the felt.

"How much is that?" George Saihami asked, pointing at the pushed-forward pile.

"One hundred and sixty," Takeru replied quickly. "Well..." He looked down, running his fingers along the sides of the chip columns. "Make that...one sixty-two."

George nodded, thinking. "Just you and me, right?" He looked around the table. "I supposed you'd do this with...any pair or any ace." He nodded to himself. "I'll call."

Takeru slowly flipped over an ace and a five, both diamonds. George turned over two sixes.

"Good call," Takeru said, standing up from his seat. "Alright, any aces or diamonds left in the deck?" He clapped a couple times.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I folded a six." The player to Takeru's right looked up at him.

"Alright, George, you're definitely not flopping quad sixes," Takeru said. "I'm happy about that."

The dealer put out a flop. Queen of hearts, nine of diamonds, four of clubs.

"Well, that's a bad one," Takeru said.

"Hey, against anyone else, I'd have a chance." George pointed up at Takeru. "But against you, it's never happening. The turn card is going to be a diamond, one hundred percent of the time, and I'm going to have a heart attack when the river comes down. Just, one hundred percent sure it's happening."

"Turn card coming," the dealer said, burning and turning over the ten of diamonds.

"See?" Saihami said, pointing down at the card. "Any ace, any diamond, what chance do I have?"

"Well, we've got a nice sweat," Takeru said. "Any ace, any diamond." He looked over at the dealer. "I believe in you, buddy, you can do it!"

The river card ended up being the seven of hearts, irrelevant to the hand.

"Whoo," Takeru said, nodding. "Alright George, you got me." He reached across the table and shook his hand quickly. "Good playing."

"Wow, I stopped the Ishida Express," George said, looking somewhat surprised. "I just didn't think I had a chance."

Takeru turned around, almost immediately coming to look at the familiar frame of Erin Parker standing a few feet behind him. She waved at him with her right hand, holding a microphone in her left. Dutifully, Takeru took the few steps over towards her.

"Hey there, sir, can we get a quick word?" Erin said, going over the rail with Takeru and guided him through the crowd of onlookers.

"I'll give you a slow word if you want," Takeru said, emerging from the collection of spectators and seeing the small camera crew.

Erin gathered herself, brushing her front off, then turned to the camera. "Alright, we've just lost Takeru Ishida from the five thousand dollar Pot Limit Holdem event, he finishes in eighteenth and takes home nearly forty-four thousand dollars. Takeru, this is your third deep run in a world series event this year and eighth cash, you're on pace to shatter several world series records, how are you doing it?"

Takeru shrugged. "When you play poker your whole life, you go through these runs of great cards and great luck, and you're locked in and doing everything right. I'm just fortunate enough to hit one of those runs during my first ever world series. That's really all you can say."

"While you were playing in this tournament, you missed two other tournaments that you had bought into, a three thousand dollar Stud Hi-Lo and a fifteen hundred Limit Two Seven Triple Draw Lowball, any regrets about buying into those tournaments and not getting to play in them?"

"Not really. Obviously, in hindsight, it's money wasted, but I wanted to give myself a chance in every tournament I could, and the only reason why I missed those tournaments is that I was doing so good in this one. I can deal with that. If I didn't do well in this one, I would have been glad I got into those." He shrugged. "And hey, my good friend Ken is playing in the Two Seven Triple Draw, so if he cashes, some of my buyin money goes to him, I don't mind that."

"It might be a little premature to talk about this, but you're currently in the lead in the World Series of Poker Player of the Year race, and you're leading by a pretty large margin. One bracelet, three deep runs, eight cashes, that'd be considered great results for an entire world series, and you've still got most of your tournaments ahead of you. Thinking about winning Player of the Year yet?"

Takeru shook his head. "You know, if it happens, it happens. All I can do is play the best I can, and if I'm there at the end, great. I mean, there's nothing different you do to try to win Player of the Year besides playing well, which I play to try to do anyway."

"Takeru Ishida, out in eighteenth, another great run. Thank you."

Takeru immediately turned around towards the rail, catching Hikari's eye and waving her over. "Alright, let's go!"

Hikari broke away from the crowd and came over to Takeru's side as the blond walked through the paths between tables.

"That was an awful nice one," Takeru said, patting Hikari on the back. "Alright, I'm gonna go sort out the money, and then we're going back up to the room. Do you have anything you need to pack?"

Hikari stopped mid-stride, head snapping up to look at Takeru, eyes widening a bit. "Pack? W-what do you mean?"

"We're flying back to The Mecca tonight." Takeru stopped, looking back at her. "So anything you need for one day, I don't know if you brought anything, but just grab it if you think you'll want it."

"B-but...aren't there more tournaments, sir?" Hikari asked, visibly confused.

"Oh yes," Takeru answered. "We'll be coming back tomorrow night. However, there are only two tournaments tomorrow. One is a senior event, must be fifty or older to play. The other is a casino employee event, must be a current employee of a casino to play." He gave a tilted smirk. "Although when you think about it, I do kind of work in a casino...technically, I'm not employed in an official sense. Anyway, what's a better way to spend a day off than with family, right?" He looked back at her. "You wanna see your brother?"

He could see her eyes light up with excitement. "Y-yes, sir! I'd love to!"

He smiled, patting her on the back again. "Alright, let's go!"

OOO

With a bit more energy and animation than he typically displayed, Takeru ran down the steps of his private jet two at a time, down towards his three immediate family members. Hiroaki and Natsuko, standing at the base of the steps alongside Yamato.

"Don't usually go for this, but..." Just short of his father, Takeru jumped up into the air, putting his body out horizontally, giving him a chance to catch him bridal-style. Hiroaki was entirely unprepared for such, and just stood there blankly as Takeru fell painfully to the floor with a muted thud.

"Ohhh, what the hell dad?!" Takeru complained, holding his arms out to the sides as he sat on the tarmac.

"You're not thirteen anymore, no guarantee I can even catch you now," Hiroaki replied, reaching down and grabbing Takeru's arm, helping to lift him up. "So, I guess we know now, huh?"

"Honey, you've been amazing," Natsuko began, stepping over to hug her son, a full bear hug. "Whenever I meet someone these last couple weeks, it's been all about you. They ask about you, they wanna know about you. I've watched every hand, it's been amazing!"

"I just try to do the right thing," Takeru said, finally getting released from the hug.

"Yeah, you're cutting into my action," Yamato said, with just a tinge of sarcasm, letting his younger brother know that he was just clowning around. "All those girls I get lining up trying to get a piece of me? Last week, they've been asking about YOU." Yamato's eyes bulged a little bit. "Yeah, these ladies, they're in the same room as me, and they're asking about my younger brother, that's so bad."

"Yeah, I'm taking all of em," Takeru said, coming over to his brother and lightly punching his shoulder a couple times. "So you better find one that still likes you and hold onto her like grim death. The party's over for you, buddy."

"I knew you could play," Hiroaki continued. "I didn't know it was like this though."

"Hey, again, it's usually not anywhere near this good," Takeru said, eyes widening a bit as he gave a bit of a grim smile. "Trust me, this is the run of a lifetime. I just wanted to break even in this world series, that's already been taken care of."

"Well, it's great to see you," Natsuko said. "Even just for one day, I'm glad you decided to come back."

"Well, it was either that or cash games." Takeru stretched his arms up high above his head. "And I don't wanna have to flip my brain around from tournament mode to cash mode. Can't mess with this great run."

Yamato pointed up the stairs to the entrance of the jet, where Hikari was standing, keeping her distance from the family reunion. "So, this is the good luck charm?

Takeru turned to wave Hikari down the stairs. "Yeah, I owe her all my success." Slowly, the girl made her way down the steps. She seemed quite relaxed, which Takeru appreciated seeing.

"Hey, Hikari, give me the lottery numbers for this week, we'll really put Takeru's thoughts to the test." Yamato stuck his hands in his pockets, watching her descend.

"Good evening, sirs." She nodded her head down low to both Hiroaki and Yamato. "Ma'am." She repeated the respectful gesture to Natsuko.

"Well, whatever you're doing, keep doing it," Natsuko said. "I'm not sure if I love the idea of both my sons being celebrities...but I know how much this means to him."

Takeru stepped over to Hikari, leaning in close to her. "Uh, your brother's shift wraps up in about twenty minutes, so if you start heading over to the barracks now, you'll probably run into him just as he's getting ready for bed. You wanna do that?"

"Oh yes, yes please!" Hikari said, clearly thrilled at the prospect.

"Alright, I'll..." Takeru froze, feeling a strong vibration coming from his inside jacket pocket. He reached inside, grabbing his personal portable assistant and looking down at the screen.

"What the...oh, you gotta be shitting me!" Takeru immediately scowled, shoving the piece of equipment back into his pocket and beginning to take long strides towards the vehicle behind his family.

Hiroaki opened his mouth as Takeru stepped around him, only to suddenly reach towards his own inside jacket pocket, pulling out an identical device and looking down at it. "Son of a...God dammit!" He spun around, heading for the vehicle as well.

"Wow, that was...that was incredible," Yamato said dryly.

"Like a mirror," Natsuko replied. The two were quick to take the hint and followed over to the cart. Hikari was quick to come up in the rear.

In short order, the cart was fully boarded and rumbled to life, automatically taking the quintet to the door at the back of the casino.

"Mom, could you direct Hikari to Barrack Building...eight, please?" Takeru said, turning his head, looking over his shoulder at his mom. "I gotta deal with this."

"Don't be ridiculous," Hiroaki said, turning to look at his son. "You're here for one day, I'm not having you do any work, I've got this."

"No, no, I'm doing this, I'm pissed off now!" Takeru snapped back. "You can come too if you want, but I'm going!"

Natsuko gave a soft nod. "Will do, you boys...do whatever it is you're doing."

OOO

~Hikari~

"I mean, look at me!" Taichi held his arms out to his sides as he walked alongside his sister. "Look how I'm moving, look at me, I've never felt better! I thought I'd never feel good again in my life!"

The two were walking through the rows of small beds alongside either wall of the large room, a fairly plain structure, rectangular room with wooden planks in the walls and on the floor. Hikari was vigilantly looking about, judging the conditions her brother was being kept in, glad to see a significant upgrade over previous slave barracks they had lived in.

"I was hoping, but I didn't dare expect this," Hikari said, watching her brother walk alongside her. "So what do they have you doing?"

"I'm just unloading delivery trucks," Taichi replied. "Think about that, too, I'm lifting heavy crates and boxes, doesn't even phase me!" He reached over and wrapped his arm around Hikari's shoulders. "I didn't know this kind of stuff happened to people like us! I get breaks, I get real food, I...I get real clothes, good clothes, it's been something else!"

"You know you don't have to lie to me," Hikari said. "Not saying you are, but if you're not getting what you need, I wanna hear about it, I can take it up with Takeru."

"Oh, you can take it up with him?" Taichi grinned. "Take it up with him?"

"Look, trust me, with the way things are going right now, he's going to give me what I want. I'm valuable to him, he likes having me around." Hikari nodded.

"Alright, bed number sixty-two." Taichi stopped besides one of the beds on the right side, going over by it. "I come back every night and it's been washed, I can tell. That's incredible to me." He sat down on the side of the bed, hands clasped together in his lap. "So, what's Takeru got you doing?"

Hikari took in a deep breath, letting it out. "Basically? Nothing."

"Gotta be something," Taichi said. "Come on, it can't really all be that...good luck line of junk, can it?"

"That's kind of the long and short of it," Hikari insisted. "He wants me to be there and watch him play poker, other than that he just...lets me be."

That was most of the truth, anyway. Taichi was not the person to air grievances with, so she left out the one little catch to the arrangement that she didn't care for. Seeing Taichi so able-bodied and well-treated was enforcing her positive feelings towards Takeru, despite it all, and she didn't want to give Taichi a reason to be upset. There were others better to discuss this sort of thing with.

"Wow." Taichi reached down towards his waist, grabbing the bottom of his shirt and pulling it up over his head. "I mean, I never really thought about the...watching poker part, but otherwise...this is always what I dreamed of for you."

Hikari nodded. "It's...it's about as good as it gets. And Takeru keeps winning, so he's really into this whole...good luck thing now."

"Hopefully he keeps winning, then." Taichi threw the shirt up onto a large brass hook on the wall. "Hey, later tonight, some people come through and take my clothes, and bring clean ones back tomorrow. It's unreal!" He bent down and pulled off his shoes.

"Heh, how are you doing with the shoes thing?" Hikari asked as Taichi set the brown loafer-styled shoes on the floor by his bed, then pulled off his socks. "Still driving me batty, I'm constantly aware of them. Takeru keeps telling me that it's a...sign of status and respect to get to wear them in public, but...I don't know."

"Honestly, the first couple weeks was weird as hell...but now I don't know how I ever lived without them." He laid back on the bed. "Especially when you're walking around with heavy boxes, you really notice a difference. Didn't know what I was missing."

"I miss the freedom," Hikari said. "So anyway, I'm leaving tomorrow night, still got...month and a half? Something like that."

"Well, don't worry about me." Taichi grinned. "And sounds like I don't have to worry about you. So...I guess neither of us has anything to worry about."

Hikari sat down on the side of the bed next to her brother. "I've seen what you can live through. I'm never worrying about you ever again."

OOO

~Takeru~

The routinely bustling area of the game room was mostly vacated, not a single one of the slot machines in use. The rows of carpeted aisles were emptied, outside of a half dozen uniformed men loading some of the machines up on wheeled dollies and carting them away. Near the entrance to the room, three men in expensive suits stood, an uneasy tension between the three of them.

"Three jackpots in twenty minutes, Burt?! Really?!" Takeru said, hands on his hips, standing up right near the taller, older man. "Three machines, four reels, sevens across, all in twenty minutes?!"

Burt put his arms out to his sides defensively. "Yeah, I don't know what to tell you, Takeru."

"Three jackpots in twenty minutes, do you have any idea what the odds are?!" Takeru snapped again, pointing over at the machines that were being carted away.

"Uh...gotta be in the millions," Burt responded. "Maybe more." He shrugged. "Probably more—"

"So why'd the third one happen, huh?!" Takeru said, eyes bulging a bit, his hands motioning around animatedly in front of him as he berated the slot manager. "Were you even here? Did you know it was happening? You didn't pull the machines?"

"It happened real fast!" Burt protested. "Just, boom, one guy wins, second guy wins, third guy wins, what can you do?"

Takeru gave an annoyed little hiss. "So what, if it wasn't for me and my father showing up, how many jackpots would we be on right now? Six? Seven?"

Burt's forehead wrinkled. "Look, don't worry about it so much, they were just nickel slots, fifteen grand per jackpot, we can absorb that kind of a setback without even flinching!"

Takeru squeezed his eyes shut for a second, clearly agitated. "Ward, we'll be the judge of that, you're not here as a financial advisor. Three fifteen thousand dollar jackpots destroys nearly a quarter of the profits we make from nickel slots over the entire week! Are you telling me you didn't see the scam?"

Burt gave a little scoff. "I-I don't know, there's...there's no way to determine that, Takeru! We don't know that for sure!"

"Maybe you don't, Ward, but I do!" Takeru glanced over at the machines getting pulled away.

"Come on, it's a casino. People have to win sometimes, that's how it works, right? In the long run, it works out, but sometimes this happens."

Takeru rubbed the side of his face. "Okay, now you're pissing me off Ward. Now you're insulting my intelligence, what do you think, I'm an idiot?!" He pointed over at the machines. "The odds of a sevens across jackpot on one of those machines is a million and a half to one. Three in twenty minutes, forget billions, we're in the trillions. Wouldn't happen! Somebody got in there and set those reels, you trying to tell me you couldn't see that after the second win?"

Burt glanced over Takeru's shoulder over at Hiroaki, as if expecting help, but he just stood there, watching. "L-look, buddy, you're over-reacting, this is less than fifty thousand dollars we're talking about here!"

"Alright, listen, I've had it with you, you've been a god damn millstone since the day you got here, I want you to get your things and get the hell of here!" Takeru gestured violently with his hands. "You're out!"

"Oh, y-you're firing me?!" Burt said, now quite upset himself. "You're firing me? You know who my father is?"

"Listen, either you're too damn stupid to realize you're being scammed OR you're in on the scam, either way, you're OUT!"

"You might regret this, Ishida!" Burt snapped back.

"I'll regret it more if I keep you on," Takeru said, taking a few steps back, then spinning around and walking past his father.

"W-wait a second, you can't even..." Burt pointed at Hiroaki. "It's his casino, you can't—"

"No, no, you're...you're definitely fired," Hiroaki said. "I was just letting him run with it." He turned around, jogging a few steps to catch up to his son, leaving Burt standing there to steam.

As Hiroaki came up next to Takeru, he grabbed his collar. "Donald, we just had to eighty-six the slots manager in room one, find someone who can run it for a bit and start the process for getting a new one. And have all the slots checked for tampering, we just got hit pretty bad by someone."

"You try to run a good operation, and every time, someone just isn't in on the gameplan," Takeru grumbled.

"Well, if it's any consolation, you made me proud." The two moved through a flood of people, towards an elevator across the hall, finally managing to wriggle their way over to it. Shortly, they were within the chamber of metal, being whisked upwards. "That was...almost exactly how I would have handled it, I think."

"It was a very nice dressing down," Takeru admitted, tilting his head back and trying to relax a bit after his diatribe. "I was proud of it. Pisses me off to think about though, if we didn't get those alerts, how many freaking jackpots would have been hit before he realized what was going on?"

"Well, I don't know much about poker. But I know there's a saying." The elevator whizzed upwards, towards the top floor of the casino. "Trust everyone, but always cut the cards yourself."

"People do say that," Takeru agreed.

"I kind of had to bring old Burt on," Hiroaki said. "That's a very influential family, the Wards. Very good group to be owed a favor from."

"Yeah, but...I mean, what else can we do?" Takeru shrugged.

"Oh no, I know." Hiroaki assured him. "Nothing else you can do. I agree, can't trust a guy like that at all. I might have to deal with some shit over it, but that's fine." He reached over and grabbed Takeru's shoulder. "I always wondered, when this place first opened...who in the world could I possibly trust enough to run this place when I don't want to do it anymore? Now I know."

Takeru nodded. "Yeah." He winced a bit. "And everything that comes with it."

"What, are you saying you don't want it?" Hiroaki asked, raising an eyebrow at his son.

"Oh, I want it more than just about anything," Takeru assured him. "But...I mean, not that simple, is it?" He gave a grim nod. "And I'm not looking forward to the other side."

"It's my problem, son," Hiroaki said comfortingly. "Nobody else's. I made decisions on my own, knowing what would come of it."

"Yeah, not saying anything else," Takeru replied. "But, when I inheirit this place, it'll be my problem."

"S-son, let's not...talk about all that now. Come on, you're setting the world on fire at the World Series of Poker, you're back for one day, this is a happy occasion!" He patted him a few times. "Let's not think about that right now."

"Yeah, I know," Takeru said. "Can't help it." Nevertheless, he nodded. "But we will have to talk about it. Sooner rather than later."

OOO

~Hikari~

"If you cut open my arm right now, I'd be bleeding green," Heather said, sitting back heavily in the chair behind the lone desk in the Angel Suite. Hikari was standing there before her, having regaled her with tales of practically no work and luxuries she had experienced in Branson City. "Your own bedroom in a deluxe hotel suite? That's so unreal. Spending all that time with Takeru, just watching him play poker all day, I...what I WOULDN'T do to get that sort of arrangement."

"Yeah, yeah, I can't lie, it's...been something else," Hikari granted. "And he's let me hang around all of his friends, it's almost like...like I'm part of their group, you know?"

Heather stood up, swinging around the side of the desk. "Yeah, Takeru's the best, ain't he?" She leaned towards Hikari with a large grin. "You had him yet?"

Quickly, Hikari's smile fell off her face, as Heather rather forcibly brought her to the one thing that was putting a bit of dirt on an otherwise pristine piece of art. "O-oh, yeah, yeah...a few times now."

"Oooh, must have been after he won the bracelet too, an all-time great mood, bet he was in top form. How was it?"

Hikari felt herself nearly wilting under Heather's unbridled enthusiasm for this conversation, but held strong to her intentions. "Oh, well...yes, he's very skilled and clearly experienced, he knows what he's doing, it's an...exhilarating experience physically...and...and..." Hikari mouth curled around as she thought for a few moments. "...and I...just find it to be so lifeless and dull and...and unenjoyable."

Slowly, Heather's smile melted away, waiting for Hikari to start laughing or concede to joking clearly. No such proclamation came.

"W-what are you talking about?" Heather asked. "What, you don't like it?"

Hikari slowly shook her head. "You know, I...look, I'm right there with you. Physically, yeah, I can tell the difference between him and the clients I've had, that's great, but...I haven't told anyone about this, but...I honestly dread it."

Heather glanced away, eyeballs popping out just a little bit as she thought. "Well, I'm...not sure what to say to that. Not really what I expected."

"Look, I-I don't...Takeru's done so much for me and my brother, I don't want to...well, it just...I don't know!" Hikari went over to the left wall, leaning up against it. "I try to tell myself that...he's just like the clients, but I know he's not! And I'm trying really hard to just...swallow it because everything else is so great, but...it's getting harder."

"How is he different than the clients?" Heather asked, now genuinely curious.

"Because I know him!" Hikari answered.

"Well, he's your...he's your owner, the clients are...your clients, I'm just not sure what you're getting at."

"Because I know him, I know that...that he's good-looking and rich and talented and could have just about any woman he wanted, it...the clients, most of them, they're here because they have to be." She sucked her cheek inbetween her teeth. "Like...they need action, and they just can't get it anywhere else for whatever reason. They have to pay for it because they can't get it in a normal relationship. And I know they're paying for it, it's a money thing, but...I can feel it when they talk to me, when they interact with me, they...they appreciate it. It means a lot to them, the simple act of laying in bed with them, willing to have sex with them, they appreciate it. And that feels good."

"Okay, I...I can relate to all that," Heather conceded.

"I'm doing them a service, they'd be unhappy without it, that feels...it made me feel good!" Hikari shrugged. "But...Takeru, he...I know that's not his problem. He doesn't have a problem with that, he could have anyone he wanted. Instead, he chooses...to have two dozen." She grimaced. "And that's all it is to him. I'm just one of...two dozen girls or whatever. I'm in bed with him, and that's what I feel like. Girl number twenty...twenty-five or whatever it is. I'm not special, I don't mean anything to him...I'm just one girl of many. I could just as easily be replaced by another one, what would he care?"

Heather puffed a small breath out of her nostril. "Well...I gotta say, I...I never really let all that bother me." She sat down on the corner of the desk.

"I'm not here to tell you what you can and can't enjoy," Hikari insisted to Heather. "I know you don't mind it, I know the other girls are good with it, that's fine, but for me...the whole thing just makes me feel like a...like a hole."

"Well, if that's how you feel, that's how you feel," Heather said quietly. "Course, all this is between you and me, you need someone you can rant to without worrying about it."

"Thank you," Hikari replied.

"I mean, you've got a point," Heather admitted. "Yeah, you're not wrong. I just always took it at face value, it is what it is. This kind of thing, in this profession, it comes up. You can feel...like you're just a means to an end. He's a young man who's having fun and enjoying life, he doesn't mean any disrespect by it."

"I know he doesn't," Hikari replied. "But...what else can you even do when your owner tells you that this is the arrangement he has in place, right? Look, I don't wanna get into it too much right now, life is great for me. You might even be sitting there thinking I'm an ungrateful punk for even complaining about anything."

"No, no, it's fine," Heather insisted. "I don't totally understand all of it, but...say what you need to say."

"It's not torture or anything," Hikari conceded. "Not saying anything like that. But...I'd just rather be doing just about anything else."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Heather said. "Wish I could tell you what to do."

"This is all me," Hikari said. "You girls, you girls are fine with this arrangement, I respect that, this is me. I don't know what I'm gonna do, I...I don't want to disrespect everything he's done for me, but...well, I don't know yet."

"Do what you need to do," Heather said, nodding over at her. "I respect that. Just...be careful."

Hikari nodded back, slinking down the wall and sitting down on the floor. "Careful's good." 


	16. Coolered

Chapter 16: Coolered

"Hey, Hikari." Takeru waved over at the girl as she descended the steps. "Come check this out, I've officially made it!"

Hikari quickly made her way over to where Takeru was seated, at the corner of the dining table. He was holding his small black portable assistant in his hand, looking at the screen. Hikari looked over his shoulder after coming up behind him, looking at what appeared to be a list of names.

"What am I looking at?" Hikari grabbed the headrest of Takeru's chair and leaned forward.

"It's the GPI. Global Poker Index. It's a list that keeps track of net profit and loss at every official poker tournament in the world." He tapped his finger on the screen, rolling the list up and down. "Every tournament poker player who has ever had any degree of tournament success is on here. And looks like I've now been regarded as worthy of list consideration."

Hikari's eyes narrowed a bit, now making out one of the lines of text as reading 'T. Ishida', doubtlessly her master, next to a '$323,850'.

"Well, that's good, right?" Hikari asked, leaning in closer to see.

"Oh yeah, it's great," Takeru said. "I used to go through this list a couple times a month, just...looking at how lucrative it is for some of these guys to be successful." He put the little device back into his jacket pocket. "I always dreamed I'd get my name in there eventually, and...there it is. And it only took three weeks of my first ever world series."

"Congratulations, sir," Hikari said, watching him stand up. "And that number can only go up, right?"

"After today." Takeru clapped a few times. "My God, this whole world series...I knew I was good, I knew all my friends were good, but this is just...there's something to celebrate every day!" He started heading towards the front door of the hotel room. "Alright, back to work." He turned back to Hikari, still walking backwards towards the door as he pointed at her. "With you around, I don't even worry about jinxing myself, I'm feeling some jewelry coming my way today!"

Hikari, with a little giggle, skipped forward to join him on his short walk to the door. "I'm sure you can do it, sir."

"Can you believe me? I'm pounding my chest about winning another bracelet already, that's how much confidence I've got." He slapped her lightly on the back as she came up next to him. "If it happens tonight, just be ready, I'll be going at it hard tonight!"

Hikari could immediately feel a disconcerting turn in her stomach, like some clammy hand had gripped it. Hearing him talk about it so casually spotlighted just how little he thought of the act, and in turn her participation in it. Suddenly, she wasn't entirely sure she was rooting for him anymore.

Well, perhaps winning the bracelet would put him in a good enough mood for her to finally confront him.

OOO

"Six hundred and thirteen enter, eighty remain, seventy-two profit, and one will stand as the champion! Welcome to day three of the Five Thousand Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo event, we WILL be crowning a champion tonight! We're here at table eight as the action picks up."

The players congregating around the oval table all sat down as the dealer cut the deck, signifying the imminent start of the day's play.

"That's right, Chao, yet another one of those sparkly bands of jewelry, ready to get placed on the wrist of someone. Could be Daniel Karns, he's still alive and kicking here today, he could add to his collection. There's Shaun Bush, he's still got chips, there's a guy who's long been regarded as one of the best poker players to not have a bracelet, this would be big for him. Or maybe we'll get a dark horse, like say, Shania Darvish, not really a player most people know, but she's currently sitting on the chip lead over on table three. Who's it gonna be?"

With everyone settled, the dealer began firing out the cards at each, face down, each player ready to trap them underneath their hands.

"Hey, we've got Takeru Ishida here in seat two, why not him? He's fifth in chips, he's got a shot."

With each player receiving a third card face up, action began three seats to the left of Takeru.

"And that's...Adam Berg, he's got the lowest up card with the three, he's going to start the action with the bring-in. He has to put out four thousand chips. Chao, some of our viewers might be new, coming over from the conclusion to our Omaha final table late last night, what does this tournament have to offer the audience?"

"Well, quite a few things, actually. Obviously, it's a Hi-Lo tournament, which really mixes things up and can make things complicated. In Hi-Lo tournaments, you want to make a high hand, but you can also make a low hand, or you can make both at the same time!"

A flurry of folds went around the table, each player checking their hole cards before quickly deciding they weren't worth a further investment of chips.

"The game plays out just like Stud, you get dealt seven cards, three face down, four face up. For the most part, it's Stud, you want to make the high hand. However, here's the intrigue, you can also make a low hand! If, by the end of the hand, you have a qualifying low hand, which is an eight low or lower, you are eligible to win half the pot. If no player has made a qualifying low hand, the high hand takes the entire pot, but half of the pot goes to the low hand if a good enough one is made. And yes, it is possible for one player to achieve both the high hand AND the low hand in the same hand, thus guaranteeing the entire pot!"

"My head is spinning, Chao."

"I complete." A player two to the left of Takeru threw in a silver and gold chip along with six purple ones.

"So that's the big thing, you're basically playing Stud AND Razz at the same time. Also, we've got a whole lot more chips in play in this tournament compared to some of the previous ones, each player started with twenty thousand. Because of that, the betting structure is a bit different. At the start of a hand, after the bring-in is posted, each player has the option to fold, call, or complete. In this case, the bring-in is four thousand chips, so a player can call by putting in four thousand, or they can complete and put in a full bet of sixteen thousand. A lot to think about in this game, maybe a little more than some others."

Takeru peered down at his two hole cards.

"Okay, we've got...Francis Duvall, who complete the bet to sixteen grand, he's got a couple of queens in the hole and a ten face up. Here's Takeru...looks down at a king of diamonds and five of diamonds, along with a eight of diamonds face up."

"When you're playing stud, you love to start with three cards of the same suit. You've got the beginnings of a flush draw, and you can hit one of several different backup plans by hitting other good hands, like two pair, or even a set."

"I'm gonna call," Takeru said, firing out seven chips of the same color display that Francis had pushed forth.

"And he's in for sixteen thousand. Ante is one thousand, bring-in is four thousand, bets are sixteen thousand, which double to thirty-two thousand after fifth street. Tournament chip average is just a bit over one hundred and fifty thousand, so for any player, to get involved in a hand is a significant commitment."

With all the chips gathered before the dealer, he dealt one card to Takeru and another to Francis.

"Everyone else has folded, so here we go to fourth street! Coming face up, Takeru picks up a two of diamonds and officially finds a flush draw, and Francis picks up a four of spades, no help to him."

Francis, with little regard for the card he had just been dealt, put out another stack of chips. Six purple, one silver and gold, representing the sixteen thousand chip bet that was dictated by the rules of the game.

"He's gonna bet his queens. He has the best hand right now, but he's quite vulnerable to Takeru making a hand here. Takeru started the hand with three hundred and ninety-two thousand in chips, Francis had two hundred and seventy-four, so two deep stacks battling."

Takeru moved his long fingers around his mountain of chips, grabbing three multi-colored ones along with a pair of purples, putting them out.

"And Takeru's gonna raise his flush draw, he likes his hand enough to put out an extra bet."

Francis, receiving the clickback, squinted over at Takeru's two up cards.

"On top of his flush draw, Takeru also has three cards to a low hand. He's got an eight, five, and two. Two more cards lower than an eight that don't pair up, and he'd lock up a qualifying low. He has to like that."

Francis put out the required chips, a silver and gold one alongside purples.

"Francis calls. So Chao, how big a deal is the low aspect of a Hi-Lo game? How much do players take it into consideration when trying to decide on whether or not to stay in a hand?"

The dealer tossed Takeru the six of clubs, then gave Francis the ace of spades.

"Well, it should definitely change it some, but you can't go crazy with it. When you have a low hand, or a draw to a low hand, you have to remember that you're ultimately playing for half the pot, and it might not be worth it to put a lot of chips in to try to hit it when the reward for hitting it is cut in half. However, it can allow you to play more aggressively with a marginal high hand if you also have some low hand potential."

Francis tapped the table a few times, checking.

"And it really helps the value of some hands. Obviously, a straight that's ace two three four five is an amazing hand, it has a great chance to be the high hand and is guaranteed to be the low hand. If you can make a small flush with all small cards, that's very good. Aces in general are extremely powerful in this game, since they count as the highest card and the lowest card."

Takeru placed out three silver and gold chips, with two purple.

"Takeru still just on a draw, he has a flush draw AND a low draw, but that's good enough for him to keep pushing. And Francis has a tough decision, he's got the best hand right now, but he has to feel like he might be way behind with Takeru betting so aggressively."

"A good way to look at it is that...a low hand is like a backup plan. Maybe you have some kind of draw to a high hand, you might get there, you might not, and if it doesn't pan out, if you can manage to make a low hand, you can at least salvage a bit of profit."

Francis fired out five chips, signifying a call.

"Francis calls. He's now got one hundred and ninety-three thousand behind. Takeru's still got three hundred and eleven grand, he can set his sights on the chip lead if this hand works out for him. Pot stands at one hundred and seventy two thousand."

Takeru received the ace of diamonds, Francis catching the ten of hearts.

"Sixth street makes things fun! Takeru's ace of diamonds is the gin card for him, he makes an ace-high diamond flush AND also cooks up a qualifying low hand. Francis hits two pair, queens and tens, but he's in bad shape!"

"Disasterous set of events for Francis. He's made a strong two pair, but he's drawing thin to make the high hand, and it's impossible for him to make a low hand, so he's just barely clinging on for a chance at half the pot."

Francis pointed his index finger over at Takeru. "Go ahead."

"Francis checks, he's first to act with the pair of tens showing. And Takeru would happily put the deed to his father's casino in the pot right now if he could, but he'll settle for another thirty-two grand."

Takeru set out the required array of chips, forcing Francis to continue to whittle away at his stack to stay around.

"Well. Takeru has three diamonds face up, and he's got an ace, two, six, and eight visible, so Francis must know that Takeru has a monster two-way draw at the minimum. But Francis has two pair. He's getting more than six-to-one on a call. Don't see how he folds. But if he could see Takeru's hole cards, he'd set his hand on fire before putting another chip in."

"Alright, call." Francis pushed a stack of five chips in.

"Francis has to have a queen or a ten to win half the pot. Seventh street on the way, face down."

Francis, receiving his final card, took in a deep breath before slowly pulling it up.

"And Francis has a look at...the ace of clubs! So, his hand does improve, he's now made aces and queens, but it doesn't matter, he's still behind Takeru's flush."

"Yeah, I check," Francis said, waving his hand over to Takeru.

"Francis is smart enough to know that, even with the nominal improvement of his hand, he's still either up against a flush or he's not."

Takeru took a brief moment to peer at his final card, for all the meaning it would hold to him, which was none.

"Jack of hearts for Takeru, entirely irrelevant to him. He's gotta value bet, I think Francis is gonna call, and we're gonna have a new chip leader!"

"I bet," Takeru announced, putting out yet another batch to signify a thirty-two thousand chip offering.

Francis blinked down hard a couple times.

"And Francis just knows his chances aren't good. Best case scenario for him, Takeru missed his flush and has a low hand, and is just trying to bluff Francis off a chop. But this isn't the best case. It's the worst case!"

"It's...it's seven in the morning, I'm just...I'm not in the mood to get bluffed off a chop," Francis said in a loopingly-accented voice. "If you've got the flush, I just have to...tip my cap." He tossed the chips in past the yellow line. "Two pair."

"I got the diamonds," Takeru said, turning over his three down cards.

Francis nodded, a pained expression on his face. "Almost folded on fifth street, but...I just didn't think you had a made hand yet."

"Tough blow to Francis, but what a way to start the day for Takeru! Just like that, he's up past half a million chips, say hello to our new big stack!"

OOO

"Really? Chip lead?" Takeru stood over by the railing, looking over at Daryl, just on the other side of the gentle brass barrier.

"Yeah, she's been on top of her game," Daryl replied, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"I knew that format was gonna be good for her, that's right up her alley. She's a fast thinker." Takeru nodded. "Akira too, wow." He turned back towards the table. "Alright, here we go, I'll catch you later."

"That's Takeru Ishida, talking with one of his friends, Daryl Porter. I believe they're talking about a tournament that started this morning, the Three Thousand No Limit Holdem Turbo. Daisy Scott has jumped out to an early chip lead there, and...okay, Akira Ueno is in fourth according to this listing I've got. Both friends of Takeru, so he has to like hearing that. In Turbo tournaments, each player has only thirty seconds to make a decision on their hand on each turn, so fast thinking is rewarded."

Takeru sat back down in his seat, pulling up to the edge of the table.

"And now, he settles in as the cards get dealt out for another hand. We are now officially on the money bubble. The next player out gets nothing, the player out after that gets six thousand eight hundred and ninety-six dollars."

"You think anyone wants to play poker for thirty hours over three days and end up with nothing but a five thousand dollar loss? You can bet players will tread lightly."

"Antes are one thousand, bring-ins are five, bets are twenty and forty. Doug Lemenov puts out the bring in, he's got a deuce of hearts face up. Demidov folds his rags, action over to Arnold Hammer...he's got a seven up, and a six five in the hole, all different suits, he has a potential straight."

After a brief moment of thought, Hammer put down five grand in chips.

"He's gonna just call here, or limp. He does have three cards to a straight, but he's not suited, and the cards are small. He doesn't want to put too many chips in until he has more information on his hand."

"To his left, we've got Joel Jacobson, he's got...a pair of tens in the hole and an eight face up, that should be worth a play."

A large man with a large beard, Joel put down two silver and gold pieces of clay, completing the bring-in to twenty thousand.

"His completion of the bring-in prompts Jerry Eisenberg to fold, and now we're on...Takeru, still our chip leader, he's got a king of spades exposed."

Slowly, Takeru perused his two down cards. Four of spades and seven of hearts.

"And he's got a couple napkins in the hole. Doubt he'll stick around with a limper and better in front of him."

Takeru sat motionless for several seconds, then pulled four chips from one of his stacks of the silver and gold variant, tossing them past the yellow line.

"Well, looks like he's sticking around! He raises he forty grand with king high and no draw! Lemenov quickly folds, and Hammer mucks instantly as well, he can't afford to draw out his straight in a pot like this. Action back to Jacobson."

Jacobson blinked a few times, looking over at Takeru's king, then down to his chip stack.

"Well, this is what they call playing big stack bully. Takeru has over half a million in chips, Jacobsen is at one hundred and fifty seven thousand. Joel knows that Takeru could potentially force him to go all-in later in this hand if he keeps betting. And Takeru knows that Joel knows this. So it's very tough for Joel to continue without a monster hand."

Jacobsen began playing with one of his chips, flipping it around between his fingers.

"Jacobsen has two tens in the hole, but his eight doesn't do anything for him right now. If Takeru has a king in the hole, Joel's well behind. If he's got two spades in the hole, particularly if one of the spades is a face card, Joel isn't in great shape. If he's got two big cards down, Joel's an underdog. That king really is a scare card for Joel."

"Alright." Joel picked up his cards and tossed them over to the dealer.

"And Joel can't do it! He didn't want to put his tournament life potentially on the line with a middle pair when we're on the money bubble! And Takeru takes in a pot of nearly eighty thousand, and he didn't even have to make a hand to do it!"

"You got me to toss away a pair," Joel said, looking over at Takeru. "A pair in the hole. I wouldn't usually fold that. That's how scared I am of you."

"I do that to people," Takeru replied, taking in the chips and quickly stacking them.

"Joel letting Takeru know that he's intimidated by him, not sure that's the best idea."

In short order, a new hand was dealt out, cards whizzing around the table.

"Still seventy-three remaining, we've got seven players here at the table. The bubble is about to burst, but who will be the unfortunate victim?"

Jacobsen paid the bring-in and Eisenberg folded, putting the turn onto Takeru. With an ace of hearts face up, Takeru looked down at a four of clubs and ten of diamonds.

"An ace for Takeru, but that's all he really has going for him, pretty weak cards in the hole."

Takeru took a pair of chips and tossed them past the yellow line.

"But don't tell Takeru that, he completes the bet to twenty grand! On that last hand, we mentioned that Takeru's king was a scare card, well, in this hand he's got an ace, the scariest card in the deck. Takeru's planting a scarecrow and hoping it gets all the crows to leave."

Action folded to Adam Berg, who slowly looked over his situation. With a king of clubs face up, he peered down at the king of hearts and queen of hearts in the hole.

"Adam's got a hand! A pair of kings with a queen, he's also got two hearts, very promising starter hand."

"I raise." Adam placed out two stacks of two chips in front of him, both of the silver and gold variant.

"Adam raises, and good for him. Not gonna fall for Takeru's bluff with an ace showing."

It took seconds for players around the table to fold their hands over to the dealer, not willing to get involved in such an active pot. Takeru had the turn in short order, the raise in front of him.

"Action folds all the way around to Takeru. And he's gotta know that Adam really has to have something here. Berg had about two hundred thousand chips to start this hand. He would not be putting himself in a position where he could bubble unless he really liked his hand. I think this is a fold."

"Sixty." Takeru put out another four chips, putting them next his original bet in stacks of two.

"Well, there's a reason I'm not in this tournament! Takeru puts in another bet, holding nothing but ace rag rag. Loosely translated? That's not a knife, THIS is a knife!"

Adam swallowed down hard, staring at Takeru, trying to wring any information he could out of his foe. Takeru didn't give anything away, sitting there and looking bored, blinking every several seconds.

"Well, Takeru's gameplan while we're on the bubble is clear. Go into ultra aggressive mode, and force everyone else at the table to make a decision that could be for all their chips. Nobody wants to bubble after all this hard work, and while they're all turtling up, Takeru knows he can take some chips he wouldn't otherwise get. But will it work?"

"I mean, I know," Adam said, gesturing towards Takeru. "I know he'd do this with a pair of washclothes in the hole, it's obvious! He could have anything and he'd do this!" He groaned, leaning back in his chair, running his hands over his face. "But...that doesn't mean...you could still have it this time."

"Adam knows what's up, but it sounds like he's folding. Even if Takeru is planning on being a big stack bubble bully no matter what, Adam knows he might still have a real hand here. If he's got an ace in the hole, that's obviously better than Adam's kings. And it's also possible that Takeru is rolled up with three aces, and Adam is in a world of trouble if that's the case. Remember, Adam doesn't have an ace in his hand, and there were no other aces face up on the table, so it has to occur to Adam as being a possibility."

"Worst laydown I've ever made in my life." Adam grabbed his cards and spun them over to the muck.

"And he folds! Takeru used some well-timed aggression and fearless betting to get Adam to fold a pair of kings! That's some very strong play!"

As Takeru gathered in the pot, a series of pleasant sounds rang through the poker room, coming from every speaker.

"And there it is! The bubble has burst! We had an elimination on table ten, we're down to seventy-two players!"

All the players at the table stood up and craned their heads up to look over to the east side of the room, where one of the players at the far table had just stepped over the railing.

"His loss is everyone else's gain, we are now in the money!"

"Oh, thank God!" Joel said, sitting back down heavily. "Now I can actually play poker."

"Thought we already were," Takeru said quietly, also taking his seat again.

"I know you were," Joel replied, propping his elbow up on the edge of the table and resting his chin in his hand. "Not sure about the rest of us."

"Joel's got the right idea, and he's also got guaranteed profit! The bubble has officially burst!"

OOO

~Hikari~

Daisy stood up, stretching her arms up high above her head. She gave a loud joyous yell, an extended, uluating shriek that very clearly expressed an animated and energetic excitement, but was somehow just subdued enough to not be embarrassing or over-the-top. Such a gesture commanded the attention of the entire room, all the eyes on her as she expressed her happiness.

Hikari saw it from over the top of several heads crowded around the railing, quickly plunging herself inbetween the bodies to get up to the rail.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Daisy said, going over onto the other side of the table, next to one of the other players. "I-I usually don't do things like that at the table, I'm just so excited, I'm playing so good!" She had her hands up against her chest, clearly a bit embarrassed.

"Hey, anyone else in the world, I might be a little annoyed," her opponent said. "But you, you can do whatever the hell you want, I encourage it."

Daisy gave a little laugh. "Thanks." She gave the man a quick rub on the shoulder.

"Hey, Daisy!" Hikari called out, waving her arm towards the tall blonde. Daisy's head snapped over to the rail and she marched over to her, grinning.

"Oh, hey there!" Daisy stopped right by her, putting her hands on the rail. "Takeru didn't get knocked out, did he? I heard he was doing so well!"

"He's still the chip leader, he's just taking a five minute break," Hikari responded. "So I wanted to see how you were doing, and wanted to maybe pass off some of my good luck to you."

"Oh, you are just so sweet!" Daisy reached up and wrapped her arm around Hikari's head, pulling her towards the side of her chest, making Hikari the sudden envy of just about everyone in the room. "But I don't need it right now." She released her. "I fell off the chip lead for a bit, but I'm back in it! I love this turbo format!"

"Awesome!" Hikari said, genuinely excited for her. "Hey, hope you win."

"And Akira's still got chips over on another table! It's just been so great! I'd love to play him later!" Daisy nodded.

Hikari leaned in towards Daisy. "Hey, Daisy, uh..." she lowered her voice significantly, forcing Daisy to lean in further. "I just wanted to say...thank you so much, for what you said to me, it's really helped."

Daisy's grin disappeared, expression becoming flat. "Eh?"

"T-that day, on the balcony in the hotel room." Hikari nodded, still almost whispering. "I just wanted to say, it's...I've made up my mind, and what you said to me has been invaluable, so thank you." She nodded, stepping back from the rail. "I've gotta go back to his table now, but...I just wanted to say it now. I don't know what's gonna happen tonight." She spun around and crammed her way through the crowd, leaving Daisy looking quite befuddled.

"Ma'am?" The dealer called out, prompting Daisy to spin around.

"Yes, deal me in please!" Daisy quickly galloped over to the table, leaving the conversation out of her mind for the moment.

OOO

"Twenty-four players remain. Three full tables. Next out wins nearly eighteen thousand dollars. It's starting to get very lucrative around here. The grand prize stands at almost six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Every hand could be crucial."

Takeru put out six multi-colored chips.

"And this hand is clearly one of those crucial ones. Takeru has committed quite a few chips to this hand, and he has not yet made a hand! He's been dealt six cards, he's got some very nice draws, but as of now, he's holding king high. He's got about thirty percent of his stack in there at this point, and if he bricks out on seventh street, he's probably not getting any of it back."

"Seventh card coming." The dealer whisked out a card to Daniel Karns on his left, then Takeru on his right.

"Karns is holding a trio of jacks, so he's got the best hand. Takeru has four clubs in his hand, so he needs one more to make a flush, and he'd also need Karns to not make a full house here. Takeru is also holding a two, four, six, and seven, so any ace, three, five, or eight would give him a qualifying low hand, which would be good for half the pot. But if he misses both draws, he'll look back and wish he hadn't risked a huge portion of his chips on a draw."

"I'm checking," Karns said, looking over to his right, past the dealer, at Takeru. "Your move, good sir."

"Karns checks, he drew a blank, a nine of hearts. Takeru has three clubs visible, so he's obviously concerned that Takeru has made a winning flush."

Slowly, Takeru pried up the edge of the card, using his thumbs to cover up portions of it, very slowly exposing the suit.

"Takeru's gonna dramatically squeeze it out." Eventually, his thumb gave way to show a spade.

"And Takeru has missed his flush. He'll need a low card that doesn't pair him now."

Finally, his long, thin finger lifted up, revealing a four on the corner.

"And he gets his low hand! That four gives Takeru a seven low! He sleeps with angels yet again!"

Takeru thought for a moment, glancing over to Karns's upcards. Two jacks, a five and an eight.

"And now, Takeru feels he's likely on a freeroll. Karns can't possibly have a better low hand than Takeru's seven low, so he knows he's winning half the pot. But to win the whole pot, he has to try a bluff. And there's no risk, since even if he gets called, he still gets chips back! May as well!"

Takeru pulled six chips from his stack and dropped them across the yellow line.

"And he's gonna try it! And I don't think it'll work, but it doesn't hurt to try in this circumstance."

"Oh man," Karns groaned. "You can't have it every time, man!" He grimaced.

"That's right, Daniel. He can't have it every time, and he doesn't have it this time. Make the call!"

"Flush is good, I call," Karns announced, flipping his chips over the line.

"Good call," Takeru said. "I have a seven low, that's it." Takeru turned over his three face down cards.

"Oh!" Daniel gave his hands a sharp clap. "Chop it up!" He revealed his hidden cards.

"I'll take it," Takeru said, watching the dealer begin to evenly distribute out the chips. "Would hate to cripple you here after bouncing you in the one thousand, with you being my idol and all."

"I'll take it too, but...man. Even when I beat you I don't beat you!" He looked over at Takeru. "Could have finally taken a chunk out of the chip leader, I had you!"

"Karns profits from that pot, but so did Takeru. They will split that pot evenly, and while Daniel will gladly take it, he did nothing to slow down the Takeru express!"

OOO

~Takeru~

"I don't know who to root for."

Francis Duvall had no chips left in front of him. They had all gone past the line, committing themselves to the pot. He had five cards in front of him, three up and two down, customary after fifth street. He was showing an eight of clubs, seven of hearts, and ace of spades.

Only Takeru remained in the hand with him, though the situation in front of him on the table was much more bountiful, with the mountain of chips.

"I'd think it'd be obvious, right?" Takeru stood up from his seat, looking down at his hand. Visible to all were the king of clubs, four of hearts, and queen of spades. He knew he was holding the ten of diamonds and jack of diamonds in the hole.

"I know we'll have a final table if you win, but..." He pointed at Takeru's chip stack. "You're just gonna have so many chips when we start the final table, I don't know if I want you to get more."

"That's kind of unavoidable at this point," Takeru said, shrugging. "Just think of the money jumps."

The dealer gave each player a card, with no more betting possible. Takeru took a queen of clubs, Francis the jack of hearts.

"Guess it doesn't matter at this point," Takeru said, looking over at Francis. "I've got a pair of queens and I've got an open-ended straight draw."

Francis nodded. "I just made a jack high straight."

"Alright, you're in good shape. Nine or ace." Takeru received a face down card from the dealer, holding it down against the felt. Francis immediately grabbed his and flipped it over, knowing it meant nothing to the hand, showing the five of diamonds.

With that, Takeru quickly whisked his card onto it's back, showing a nine of clubs. Francis's entire body spasmed a little bit.

"Pretty sick," Francis said through gritted teeth. "Pretty sick." Takeru turned over his other three cards, revealing he was indeed telling the truth, and that his jack high straight was down against Takeru's king high straight.

"Sorry man." Takeru reached across the table, taking his hand and shaking it.

"Love to join you guys at the final table, but it's not to be," Francis said, looking around. "I only started playing Stud two years ago, so I've got a lot to be proud of." He reached down, grabbing a small bag from underneath his chair and slinging it over his shoulder.

Takeru spun around and went to the rail, quickly finding Hikari, Daryl, and Ken standing next to each other.

"You're a sick human being," Ken said. "Another final table?"

"The deck loves me," Takeru said, shrugging. "What else can I say? Easy to rake in chips when these are the cards I get."

"Come on man, you're playing real well," Ken insisted. "I wish I had bet on you before this world series started. Probably could have gotten you at five hundred to one to win two or more bracelets."

"I would chastise you for acting like I've already won, but..." he pointed at Hikari. "With her by my side, I'm not sure it matters. And I'm just feeling good right now." He leaned forward towards Daryl. "So what's the word?"

"Akira's still got a nice stack going, Daisy's second in chips," he replied. "I've been hustling back and forth between here and upstairs, getting my exercise in. But yeah, she's thriving in that turbo format."

"In the money yet?" Takeru asked.

"Oh yeah, it's gonna finish sometime early tomorrow. Praise be to the turbo format. They're both gonna cash in pretty good unless they implode." Daryl nodded.

"In fairness, if I didn't know Daisy as a personal friend, and I sat down with her at a poker table, I sure as hell wouldn't want to knock her out," Ken said wryly.

"Oh, I think she's very aware of that element," Takeru said in a low voice. "And I think she knows how to utilize it like a master."

"Meta games. Love em." Ken nodded. "Alright man, hit the final table hard. Big stack poker, make it pop."

Takeru nodded, jumping up and down a little bit. "It's gonna pop. I can do this. Big stack bully."

OOO

Takeru gathered up a tower of four silver and gold chips, pushing them into the center of the table.

"And, surprising nobody, Takeru completes the bring-in to forty thousand."

With his bet in, Takeru folded his arms over each other on the edge of the table in front of him.

"He's got the queen of clubs exposed, in this situation that's more than good enough for him to make this completion. Action over to Daniel Karns, to Takeru's left. Can he figure out that Takeru's down cards are, in fact, the five of hearts and the two of spades?"

Daniel took a long look at his up card, a seven of hearts. He found a jack of hearts and five of hearts in the hole.

"And Karns starts out with three hearts! A small one, a middle one, and a big one."

"Wow!" Karns said, leaning back in his chair. "Wow wow wow."

"Now for the dilemma that faces everyone else at the table right now. Takeru Ishida has four million nine hundred thousand in chips in front of him. He's the one guy at this table who has chips to spare and can afford to mess around routinely. Is he messing around, or does he have an actual hand?"

"Wow, you might bust me out of two events in three weeks, buddy." Daniel gave a thin little smile. "Okay, I gotta stop talking, other people are still in the hand."

"Yeah, it's been a real clinic by Takeru on how to play big stack bully. Every time the action is either folded or limped to him and he has a good card exposed, he's completed, we've seen this over and over now. This time, he's got nothing, he's had nothing a few other times, a few times he has a real hand, good luck trying to guess."

"I wouldn't usually fold this," Daniel said. "But I just might."

"Daniel has three hearts, that's a hand you'd always want to play in Stud, but in this circumstance it's really tough. Takeru has more than enough chips to barrel away on every betting round and really make it expensive, and he's capable of doing it with value hands and bluff hands. And even with three hearts, it's so easy to brick out and end up with nothing or some small or middle pair, and you had to put so much of your stack in to get there, it's just brutal. The ICM considerations kind of force you to fold all but the best of hands."

"Can't do it." Karns threw his cards over to the dealer.

"And there it goes. Karns has about one million chips left, but he just doesn't want to risk becoming the short stack until he can find a better spot. Zachary, while Donald McAllister considers his options with a ten of hearts up, and king five of spades in the hole, let's tell the viewers about the ICM element of playing in a poker tournament."

"ICM stands for the Independent Chip Model. Basically, it's an evaluation of how much your chips are actually worth in a tournament at any given point. Obviously in a tournament, if you have, say...one million in chips, your stack isn't actually worth a million dollars."

Donald grimaced, staring over at Takeru. "Just...I know it, but what can I do?"

"Basically, the Independent Chip Model considers the value of staying alive in a tournament for a little longer instead of risking going out now. How much is it going to cost you to go bust now versus busting later? And the ICM considerations are huge this late in a tournament. We've got six players left, the next player out gets one hundred and thirteen thousand, the player out after that gets one hundred and sixty. So you can make nearly fifty thousand dollars by just folding and waiting for someone else to get eliminated. And that aspect makes it much harder to play hands that are just...good, or hands that are interesting. And Takeru knows this, so he can just drive a bulldozer over everyone else, and it's very hard for them to stand up to him."

McAllister threw his cards to the dealer, immediately followed by the bring-in of Ketel Vilma getting folded as well.

"Nobody wants to be the one who gets out of line in a hand with marginal holdings, it just looks so embarrassing on television, and it costs you so much money. You might make tens of thousands of dollars by just playing super tight. Everyone at this table knows that Takeru is opening pots with almost anything, but it's hard to do much about it. He might have something this time, how can you know? Meanwhile, right now, every pot has...thirty-four thousand chips in it from antes and the bring-in, he's more than happy to just keep picking up that up every opportunity he gets."

"When you see this on TV later, you're gonna be amazed at what I folded," Karns said, laughing a bit.

"I have a feeling when we see this on TV later, we're all gonna feel pretty bad," McAllister mumbled.

OOO

"Takeru's got a king face up...and he's got a jack and a nine in the hole. Kind of has a hand this time, modest holdings."

Takeru, putting his cards down in front of him, grabbed six chips and tossed them in.

"We've got four players left here. Antes are six thousand, the bring-in is fifteen thousand, and bets are sixty and one-twenty thousand. Takeru Ishida has more than half the chips in play, seven million, and he's not letting up on the pressure. He completes the bet to sixty grand."

McAllister, with a resigned sigh, looked down at his cards slowly.

"The key for Takeru is to make everything just look the same. He's doing the same thing when he has nothing as when he has a monster. And here he's got a decent hand, he's doing the same thing. Very hard to read. Anyway, McAllister has a queen of spades visible...and the ace of spades and the queen of hearts in the hole!"

Donald lifted his head up, looking at his chip stack.

"And Donald to go with this one. He's got two big spades, he's got a pair, he's got an ace, this is where you have to ignore the ICM voice in the back of your head and go for it. If Takeru has a pair of kings, you just have to shrug your shoulders and hope you improve enough to win."

Slowly, Donald grabbed half a dozen chips, putting them forward into the pot.

"He just calls, and I like this. Takeru's almost certainly betting fourth street, so McAllister can keep his bluffs alive and get chips out of him even when he has nothing. McAllister has a little less than two million in chips, so his tournament life won't be at risk unless both players drive the action. But he could lose quite a bit if Takeru makes a big hand."

The dealer got to a rare fourth street. Donald got the ace of hearts, Takeru got the eight of clubs.

"And there's two pair for McAllister, aces and queens! Takeru's eight doesn't help him, McAllister takes a commanding lead in this hand! This is his chance to potentially get some chips out of the big stack!"

Donald tapped the table a few times, and Takeru needed only a few seconds to drop six chips across the yellow line.

"Just what McAllister wanted, Takeru throws out a continuation bet. Donald is going nowhere, he can either call or raise."

Slowly, McAllister grabbed one of his sparkling platinum chips, tossing it in along with two multi-colored ones.

"He raises! Clicks it back to Takeru, who just flinched a little bit."

Takeru stared over at McAllister's upcards, analyzing the hand.

"Donald has a queen and an ace face up. With those two cards up, it's easy to believe he has a pair of queens at the worst, and more likely a pair of aces or better. Of course, he could have four deuce in the hole, and just be betting strong because his upcards are so good. Takeru does have a couple potential straight draws, and some big cards, but will he put in more chips to try to hit something?"

Takeru took his cards and put them over in front of the dealer.

"And Takeru lays it down! Good instincts, he knows Donald has been playing tight during this entire final table, and deduced he probably had something really good."

"Sometimes you just gotta...take a swing at the the bully, gotta swing right back," Donald muttered to himself as he gathered in the pot.

"It helps when you've got two pair," Takeru said with a small smile.

"Takeru's called out Donald's exact holdings. Won't win him the pot, but a nice read anyway. Now, we're down to four players, so Takeru should probably tone down the aggression. There are fewer antes now, so stealing the initial pot is no longer nearly as lucrative."

Takeru watched the cards get quickly distributed around the table, eyes going up to the wall clock up behind him.

"We're now at...eleven twenty local time. Traditionally, world series tournaments go on hold at midnight, but we're on day three, so this tournament WILL continue until we have a champion. And Takeru's already signed up for a tournament starting tomorrow at seven, so he might be looking at one of those all-nighters."

Takeru dropped off two silver and golds along with a purple, after his four of hearts proved to be the lowest upcard.

"Cards in the air, Takeru is the bring-in, he'll sit there and wait on revealing his hole cards until it's his turn to act. Action over to Donald."

McAllister stared at his down cards.

"You know, it's obviously not over yet. But it's looking pretty good for Ishida right now, and a twenty-year-old winning two bracelets in three weeks would be pretty incredible."

"Absolutely. Never been done before. And for him to win a Stud event would go a long way in proving he's not just a one-trick pony. A lot of players, especially younger ones, tend to only play Holdem, but it's hard to say that about someone who's won a bracelet in a non-holdem event. Looks like Donald's going to limp in, he's got a five six seven rainbow."

Takeru turned his head over his left shoulder, looking behind him. "So what's the news?"

"She's second in chips," one of the audience members reported. "Akira's getting a bit shallow but he's got forty bigs."

"That's, uh, Daryl, Takeru's friend, talking no doubt about Daisy Scott and Akira Ueno. Even as he stands on the precipice of a monumental achievement, he still takes the time to think about his friends. Fascinating collection of young poker players."

"Very nice." Takeru turned back to the table, looking at his down cards. Four of diamonds, four of spades.

"Hello! Takeru's rolled up! He's got three fours to start this hand off!"

Slowly, he looked around the table, seeing a limp and complete in front of him.

"Well, Donald limped in, Ketel folded, and Iman West completed, so there are some chips out there. West completed with a pair of jacks in the hole and a ten face up, so he should get some action."

Takeru flipped a platinum chip along with two silver and gold to the pot.

"He raises! Good move! Should get some action, and he could definitely try to be stealing with air here."

"Just can't get anything through," Donald grumbled, folding his cards.

"Come on man, you can't win every pot," Iman said, reaching into the pot and taking his bet back, replacing it with two platinum chips. "Bad steal spot, you should know that, hit the brakes."

"Iman taunting a bit, thinking that Takeru can't possibly have a good hand with a four showing and is on the steal. If he truly believes that to be the case, this could get expensive."

Takeru blinked a few times, before placing chips in to make the call.

"Takeru calls! He doesn't want to freak out Iman with another raise, he'd rather let him blast off on future betting rounds, thinking that Takeru is on a draw."

West watched a king of clubs come his way, Takeru receiving a seven of clubs.

"Both players get a blank. Takeru's three fours remain in the lead."

"Alright man, I'm not getting bullied this time." Iman flipped out sixty thousand in chips. "Don't try it."

"West seems like he's had enough of Takeru's high level of activity and is sticking his heels into the ground with his pair of jacks. Trying to convince him to stop bluffing, but this time, Takeru isn't bluffing. If Iman is really deadset on going all the way with this hand, he's going to be very short-stacked by the end of it, if not eliminated, unless he improves."

"I call." Takeru put out calling chips.

Iman opened his mouth to say something, but quite quickly decided against it, mouth slowly closing.

"I don't think Iman expected a call. He wanted a fold, might have been anticipating a raise, but it seems likely that Takeru would have to have at least SOMETHING to call. He's hoping that the something is a pair of nines or eights."

Iman picked up the ten of spades, Takeru got the ten of diamonds.

"Disaster looming for West! He's made two pair, jacks and tens, and even worse is that he knows it's extremely unlikely that that ten helped Takeru's hand."

"One-twenty to go!" Iman eagerly put in three chips, betting his jacks up.

Takeru's expression hardened slightly as he looked over at Iman.

"Takeru doing a good job of looking a little defiant, as if he's doing this in an attempt to bully. Then again, if Iman has a ten in the hole, he's got the best hand now, so he might be a little concerned."

"Two-forty," Takeru announced, fingers collecting chips as he spoke.

"I raise," Iman said immediately.

"Neither player seems concerned about anything! Takeru raises his set, springing his trap, Iman re-raises his two pair! This is a huge pot, and unless Iman improves or gets Takeru to fold, he's going to be in horrible shape after this!"

"Re-raise." Takeru waved his hand towards the pot, then beginning to get chips together to make good on his verbalized actions.

"Takeru pushes it to nearly half a million on this round alone! No fear of being up against three tens from him."

West stared at Takeru's up cards, mouth hanging open a tiny bit as he thought.

"Well, Takeru's played for this. He's been playing super aggressive, he knew that the other players would get sick of it and start playing back at him, and this is a huge part of the reason why you do that. Eventually, you get a big hand, and you get paid off because people don't believe you. And also, it's really hard for Iman to have three tens, since Takeru is holding a ten, so he's gonna stick to his plan. You can't go into a poker table with a plan, have the plan work, and then abandon it because you're scared. That's way too exploitable."

"Can you really...I mean...would you really four-bet with a straight draw? I...I guess." Iman looked incredulous.

"If Takeru has a hand like five six or eight nine, then he would have a straight draw, which makes some degree of sense. But even Takeru might shy away from being this aggressive with just a draw."

"I call." Iman flipped in a short stack of chips.

"Iman needs a jack or ten to make a full house, and that's what he needs to win this hand. One of his tens is in Takeru's hand. Sixth street brings...a five to Iman, and a king to Takeru."

"Alright, you bet I call. Check," Iman said.

"Not entirely appropriate behavior from Iman, telling Takeru he's checking to call. Of course, Takeru doesn't mind, that's exactly what he wants to hear."

"I don't think that king helped you," Iman added as Takeru silently put in one-twenty grand in chips.

"Well, Iman is right there. The king didn't help him, but he doesn't need help right now."

"Yeah, I said I'm calling," Iman said, throwing in chips as well. "If you miss on the last card, just check, I promise I'm calling."

"Someone needs to tell Iman that all he's doing is helping Takeru make decisions by telling him what he's going to do. I know he thinks he's going to convince Takeru to shut down if he's bluffing, but good players don't go for this kind of thing."

With the last card face down, Iman slowly peered down at an two of hearts.

"Brick for Iman, he's stuck with two pair, can not win this hand. He taps the table."

Takeru checked his own card, finding a seven of spades.

"Well, Takeru didn't need it, but he's filled up! He's got fours full of sevens, and can feel a lot better about value betting here."

"Bet." Takeru waved his hand forward.

"Wow, he doesn't even bother putting the chips in because he's sure that he's winning the pot! Very strong, if I'm Iman I'm not sure what I do!"

"This would be a ridiculous fold," Iman said, laughing a bit to himself. "Please, please turn over the missed straight draw." He tossed in a few chips. "I got two pair."

Takeru turned over his three down cards, revealing a full house.

"Oh my God." Iman tilted his head back, eyes closed. "Rolled up fours, so cruel."

"And Takeru gets maximum value, seems like nothing can slow this kid down!"

OOO

"I don't care if I get fifteen minutes of sleep tonight!" Daisy called out, up near the front rail of the spectator area. "I'm not missing this!"

"I'll sing you a lullaby." Takeru sat back down in his seat. "Coming right up."

"Well, Daisy Scott just showed up on the rail here at the final table. It's a few minutes past midnight, so her tournament just went on hold for the night, she's still in second place over there. And now she's here to watch her friend from the rail, which I'm sure will raise our male viewership by at least forty percent, heh. And Takeru looks and is acting very calm, but inside, he must be doing backflips. How can a kid this young even handle all of this incredible success?"

"I don't know why to hate you more," Donald McAllister said, looking at Takeru from across the table. "Because you're about to beat me for a world series bracelet, or because you're friends with her."

"Well, Donald hasn't lost his sense of humor. Just almost all of his chips."

"Nothing personal, my man," Takeru said, tapping his fingers on the edge of the table as the cards were dealt out. "It's just poker."

"Oh, I know," Donald said, watching the cards come out. "Still wanted that bracelet though."

"Not over yet." Takeru saw a seven of hearts come his way face up, prompting him to place in a bring-in of twenty-five thousand chips when Donald was dealt the ace of clubs. Giant bricks of cash were out on the middle of the table, a jeweled bracelet atop it, ready to go to the victor.

"I'm not even gonna look at my cards," Donald said, grabbing the last couple silver and gold chips in front of him. "I got the ace, I'm not folding no matter what." He tossed the last of his holdings in. "I'm all-in, dark."

Takeru looked down at his seven. "Alright, I'll go for that too. I call in the dark."

"And here we go! Donald is all-in dark, Takeru calls dark, both players say come what may!"

Slowly, Donald grabbed his two cards, flipping them up and tossing them to the felt. A queen of hearts and nine of hearts.

"Not bad, actually," Takeru said, grabbing his cards and turning them to their backs. Seven of spades and ten of clubs. "Alright, I got a pair, you've got three overs."

With it out of their hands now, both players stood up from the table. The audience immediately erupted into applause, a flood of excitement overtaking everyone in attendance as a winner was on the brink of being crowned.

"Fair fight!" The dealer called out, throwing Donald the three of diamonds and Takeru the king of clubs. Takeru slowly walked over to his collection of friends, gathered right by the front edge of the seating area.

"There's just no way you lose this," Miyako muttered, watching the action over Takeru's shoulder. "It's like, the deck won't allow it. Pair of sevens may as well be quad sevens."

"Takeru standing over near his friends, they're on the verge of erupting into celebration. Three cards coming."

A five of diamonds to Donald. A six of diamonds to Takeru.

"Blanks!" Ken said, Takeru having turned away from the table. Takeru nodded.

"Blanks are good." Takeru reached his hand out towards Hikari, who took it. "Just in case, I don't wanna risk it."

"Takeru getting some attention from the woman he calls his good luck charm. He's ahead, but lots of cards to dodge."

"Hey, I made a pair at least," Donald said, sounding rather dry all the same as a three of hearts was whisked over his way. Takeru picked up a jack of clubs. "More outs."

Takeru strided back over to the table, standing by his seat, watching as the dealer prepared the final card to come out. "Alright, pair of sevens against a pair of threes, classic matchup."

"At least I can't say I got eliminated holding ace high." Donald bent down to look at his card.

"One card left! Donald must catch an ace, king, nine, five, or three, or he's finishing in second place!"

Without a thought, Donald grabbed his and tossed it up. Eight of spades.

"You're good," Donald said, shrugging at the irrelevant card that made Takeru's victory assured. For posterity's sake, Takeru flipped over what ended up being the jack of spades, then threw his arms up in the air.

"And we have a winner! Takeru Ishida puts the finishing touches on his second bracelet in three weeks! I watched the whole thing and can't quite believe it!"

"You played great, man, you played great!" Takeru went over to Donald, taking his hand and shaking it.

"You played better," Donald said wryly, returning the handshake nevertheless. "Well, it is a life-changing amount of money for me anyway."

"Me too, man." Takeru pulled away, going over to the stacks of cash, hands up on his head, looking vaguely incredulous.

"And the typically mild-mannered and relaxed Takeru Ishida looks amazed at his own results! This just isn't something you can ever expect to happen, or even really imagine! And now he's been surrounded by his friends, all of them thrilled to see their good friend continue one of the greatest world series runs we've ever seen!"

Takeru picked up the bracelet, bringing it close to his mouth and kissing it. "This one's for all those kids at Skyridge Academy with a deck of cards and a dream!"

OOO

~Hikari~

She took in a deep breath, trying to settle her nerves.

It was a thrill to watch Takeru win yet another major tournament. She was excited for him, and enjoyed the partial credit she was getting for it. After gathering up the money and pocketing the bracelet, despite the protests of all of his friends, Takeru had insisted it was too late for any kind of celebration, and after a quick required interview, had returned to his hotel room with Hikari. There was time for revels later, he said. They had to be up in less than six hours for the next day's work.

Of course, Hikari knew that he had another form of celebration in mind.

She was standing in her bedroom, wearing nothing but a thin, blue bathrobe, leaning up against the wall near the door. The events of the evening had worn at her resolve some, but not broken it. Seeing Takeru so elated at winning and running so well was a thrill. She thought of all he had done for her, all she owed him, and even all she meant to him.

And now, it was time for her to help him grow up, as Daisy put it.

She was certainly nervous. This was not something someone like her would ever be expected to do. Some would even call it suicidal on her part. But she had seen enough. And Takeru might be more willing to consider her words after experiencing the highest of highs. If not now, then when else could she expect to be able to level some dubious accusations towards her master without ending up in serious trouble?

She had rehearsed her words many times in her head, running them through again and again, hoping she could remain composed. If nothing else, she no longer felt comfortable grinning and bearing this task, playing the sex partner for Takeru. Something had to give. And now was the time for the give.

The door swung open quite quickly. Hikari's toes curled down into the carpet, nerves sending warning bolts through her body, some survival instinct in the back of her mind telling her to fall in line and not rock the boat.

"Alright Hikari, I know it's late, we gotta get up early, let's not beat around the bush," Takeru said quickly, reaching up to his collar and beginning to unbutton his shirt. Hearing the way he was speaking about this re-enforced her belief that this encounter simply had to happen.

"Evening, sir," Hikari said, speaking clearly in an attempt to steady herself.

Takeru spun around towards the wall, looking at her. "Oh, hey, you ready?"

"Uh..." Hikari cleared her throat. "Uh, sir, I just want to say...congratulations on everything so far. You're doing amazing, you're playing great, I'm so happy that so many good things are happening for you. You're fantastic, and it's been an honor to watch."

Takeru's fingers had frozen mid-button pop. "Oh, thank you!" Takeru nodded. "Yeah, thank you. Thank you for...your contributions." He gave a crooked smile. "I certainly never did this well before you." He turned back towards the bed, going over to it as he unbuttoned his shirt. "Hey, so tomorrow we might all get together for a little celebration thing, what kinds of foods would you want there for you? What's stood out for you out of the things you've—"

"Uh, sir, I'd...I'd really prefer not to," Hikari said, a bit quicker than she planned, but the point got across nonetheless.

Takeru turned to look at her, now about to shrug his shirt off, standing up by the head of the bed. Hikari slowly pointed over at the bed, trying to better indicate what she was talking about.

"O-oh." Takeru blinked rapidly a couple times. "Oh, yeah, sure, you uh...you don't feel good? Headache, stomachache?" He slowly stepped away from the bed. "Yeah, sure, no problem, you know there's some medicine downstairs I could give you if it's something like that. Guaranteed you'll be all better by the morning."

"Uh, yeah, I mean...no, not that, I...I'm not sick." Hikari shook her head.

"Something the matter?" Takeru asked, slowly sauntering over to the wall next to her.

"Uh...well...sir, I..." Standing on the precipice, it got all the harder to jump. But she had spent too much time convincing herself this was how she was going to handle things. And she thought of what Daisy had said to her. This was for Takeru as much as it was for her. She was convinced.

"Go ahead, say whatever, I'm curious now," Takeru encouraged.

"Sir, I...I don't like it," Hikari said, taking the leap.

An uneasy silence that churned at Hikari's stomach filled the room, Hikari staring at the far wall and Takeru looking down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You're full of surprises, you know." Takeru bit down on his cheek. "I definitely didn't expect to hear something like that from you." He thought for a moment. "What, does it...hurt, is it something I'm doing, I—"

"No, no, nothing like that, uh..." she reached up and scratched the top of her head. "I just...I don't want do it anymore."

"I see," Takeru said, tone flat and neutral. "Bit of an odd thing to say, given your work back at the casino."

"Sir, I...I don't like it, because...it doesn't mean anything to you," she finally said, a shiver going up her spine as she delved further into this highly risky territory.

"That...I don't understand. If it didn't mean anything to me, why would I ask to do it? Of course it means something to me, why else would I even be here?" Takeru's forehead was wrinkled in apparent confusion.

"No, it's...I could be anyone." She pushed away from the wall, stepping over towards the bed. "I could be Hikari, but I could also be...Heather, or Ren, or Ashley, or Amy, or any of the other girls. And you wouldn't care. You wouldn't even notice the difference. I could be...I could be some girl you just met today out on the poker table. It's all the same to you."

Takeru squinted, rubbing his temple, trying to figure out how to reply seemingly.

"If I wasn't here, it'd be someone else, and it would make no difference to you, you'd...you'd feel the exact same way." Hikari sat down at the foot of the bed. "And I can feel that I'm just...a tool to you in bed."

"Where the hell is all this coming from?" Takeru said incredulously. "I mean, you just kind of...summed up what being a prostitute is. That's what you are, that's what you volunteered to be. Yeah, it's a physical act that people engage in that feels good, that's it! Same thing you do back at The Mecca."

"Yes, and I...I get it from there. Those people, the clients, they...they don't have any other way, but you...I know you, I know that...you're doing it because...it's easier for you."

"I can't decide whether to be irritated or amazed," Takeru said, a bit of a neurotic tone in his voice. "Seriously, where is all this coming from?" He went over to the small dresser in the far corner of the room, grabbing the chair and sitting down in it. "You...you've spent ninety-nine percent of your life scrubbing floors and picking crops, and you're in here, judging my lifestyle?"

Hikari swallowed down hard. She had definitely pushed a button or two, and was tempted to try to backpedal, but there wasn't really any backing out now.

"W-well, I...I just think you should step back and...and look at your arrangement, and think about—"

"Yeah, here it comes," Takeru said, clearly annoyed now. "I've heard this kind of thing before, you know, it's not new." He gestured at Hikari. "Never thought I'd hear it from you." He rubbed his forehead, closing his eyes. "Last person on the planet I'd expect to hear this line from."

"Sir, think about...think about the position you're putting the girls in." Hikari continued to cycle through the talking points she had come up with. She couldn't help but her voice getting a bit more frantic, detecting quite clearly that Takeru wasn't happy with this conversation. "Do they even have a choice in the matter?"

"Wow." Takeru leveled his gaze over at Hikari. "You know, on a night like tonight, it's going to be very hard for me to get truly upset about anything." He blinked a few times. "But if you're suggesting what I think you are...you just might manage it, Hikari. You just might."

Hikari froze, feeling her insides clench up a bit. She opened her mouth, but Takeru cut her off.

"I think you're way out of line talking about something like that," Takeru said warningly. "You're in no position to question my honor and integrity, you've been here less than two months. My arrangement with The Angels has always been completely consensual, I've never laid a hand on any of the girls without them agreeing to it."

Hikari's shoulders hunched over a little bit. Takeru was quite clearly getting upset, and she wasn't sure if this encounter had any hope of ending peacefully anymore.

"W-why...why do you think they always agree?" Hikari said, sounding a bit meeker now.

"Because there's no reason to not?!" Takeru snapped, putting his arms out to the side. "Okay, I...I can't believe this." He shook his head, eyes fiery now. "This shit I'm hearing, it's...am I in bizarroland? And-and you, of all people, hearing it from you, as if I didn't save your life and your brother's life, as if I didn't bring your brother back from the dead, as if I didn't give you some of the easiest tasks any slave could possibly be given, that's not enough for you?! You're gonna sit there anyway, tell me there's something wrong with my lifestyle, as if you know the first thing in the universe about any of this?!"

Hikari was truly terrified now. She had hoped this wouldn't go to an emotional place, but it quite clearly had gone to a place that Takeru found upsetting. She had never seen him quite like this before. She was shaking a bit now. "S-sir, I...I deeply appreciate everything you've done for me, believe me, but...I'm just—"

Takeru stood up. "You know what? Forget it." With a bit of a growl, Takeru started walking over towards the door. "I bring you here, I ask practically nothing of you, I give you all the nice things in life, and all that isn't enough for you!" He grabbed the doorknob, then turned around and pointed at Hikari. "You need to get this garbage out of your mind, I'm serious. Just because I'm treating you well doesn't make you special."

Hikari tried to find some way to stabilize herself and project at least something of a front of being balanced, but it wasn't happening. She could only sit there in terror, wishing she could shrink away.

"Yeah, you're right, you are just one of many girls, what the hell ever made you think anything else?!" Takeru continued to berate her. She could tell that his emotions were feeding his words, but that didn't make them any easier to listen to. "What, because I brought you here because of some silly gimmick?" He pulled the door open. "That's called marketing, nothing more. You're not some...good luck charm, that's just a gimmick, so don't think you can pull that either." He stepped out of the room. "Yeah, you're just a cog in the machine. Why do you even think you're really here right now?"

Hikari, eyes starting to shimmer a bit, looked up at Takeru.

"You think it was about you, that night at Hido's?" Takeru shook his head. "It had nothing to do with you! It was all about Hido." Takeru's nostrils flared a bit. "It was all about me, getting one in on him, showing him how much better I think I am than him." He pointed at Hikari. "You were just the thing that was there that I could use to achieve that!"

Hikari winced, the effect of that particular string of sentences stinging especially hard.

"You better spend some time thinking about your place in the world. Talking to me like that, you've clearly forgotten it."

With that, Takeru slammed the door shut, leaving Hikari alone to think about the disasterous confrontation. 


	17. On The Bubble

Chapter 17: On The Bubble

He was surprised, how much he noticed the difference. The stark contrast, between eating a quick breakfast with someone and having it alone. He missed the company a lot more than he would have guessed.

Takeru sat alone at a small table in the far corner of the poker room, a couple of muffins in front of him, yet untouched by the twenty-year-old. He was leaning back in his chair, holding a green poker chip inbetween his fingers, spinning it around on the flat surface.

He had managed to get to sleep the previous night, knowing that he simply had to, his mind trained to block out all things in order to fall asleep during this important time for him. But it wasn't a particularly peaceful sleep, as he was still seething.

Now, he was just mostly annoyed. He wasn't typically the sort of person who would fly off the handle and over-exaggerate because of stress or displeasure, so he was certainly annoyed at himself for letting his emotions get the best of him. But for Hikari to imply what she had implied was ridiculous and inappropriate, how could he NOT be upset?

He had passed on going up to her room after waking up, opting to simply shower and leave. He didn't want to interact with her right now. He'd ride solo today and re-evaluate later. The wound was too fresh right now. He needed some time as a salve.

"Hey, you gonna eat those?"

Ken approached the table from the main area of the poker room, pointing at Takeru's muffins.

Takeru felt a surge of irritation bubble up at Ken's jovial tone. "Yeah," he said flatly.

"I wouldn't exactly call it the breakfast of champions, but you're eating it, and you're a champion, so I guess it is by definition!" Ken grabbed the back of one of the empty chairs, spun it around, and fell into the seat. "So, who'd you sell your soul to, and can you get me in contact with him?"

"You're a real funny guy," Takeru said listlessly, spinning the chip around on the table.

"Huh." Ken leaned back in his seat, giving Takeru a furtive look. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you...stayed up all night partying or something. Awful low energy, my man."

"Well, I'm not a dancing monkey for your amusement, Ken," Takeru grumbled.

"Whoa!" Ken frowned a bit. "Wrong side of the oxygen bed this morning?"

"Something like that," Takeru said. "Sorry, I'm just...not in the mood."

"How can you not be in the mood?" Takeru looked up to find Daisy, approaching the table alongside Miyako. "You're up nearly a million dollars, you've got two bracelets, you're the greatest thing to hit poker since automatic deck shufflers, what on earth could make you not in the mood?" Daisy put her hand on her right hip, looking down at Takeru with a degree of reproachfulness and concern.

"Oh, well...there's more to life than poker, my dear," Takeru said, tone very try and caustic.

"I mean, obviously, but...you're kind of the last person I'd expect to hear that from. Especially right now." Daisy raised an eyebrow at him. "Would a little celebration late tonight pick up your spirits?"

Takeru rolled his eyes. "Honestly, I...I think I'll pass."

"No party?" In short order, Sammy and Daryl joined the conversation, coming up next to the table. "Did I hear that right, no party? What the hell is that all about?"

"Where's Hikari?" Miyako asked, looking around the vicinity of the table.

Takeru grimaced. "Weellll...she's having a bit of an attitude problem, so...she won't be joining us today."

"Attitude problem?" Daryl repeated. "W-what does that even mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," Takeru said, a bit of an edge to his voice. "How else can I say it?"

The group of friends stood around, glancing at each other a bit uneasily.

"So, what, she's just...she doesn't want to leave the room?" Ken asked, looking quite confused.

"I can only assume," Takeru said. "I didn't ask. And I doubt she'd answer."

A few more beats of quiet followed.

"Okay, do I have to be the asshole who points out that you...literally own this girl?" Sammy said, glancing around. "She's not your...your sister or friend or something."

"Yeah, I know," Takeru said through gritted teeth.

"So, you can...you know, just order her to be here, she'd have to be here." Sammy's mouth curved down almost cartoonishly and he shrugged.

"Well, maybe I don't want her down here," Takeru mumbled. "Maybe I don't need someone with an attitude problem with me when I'm playing poker."

"But you need her," Miyako said. "Right?"

Takeru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, she was obviously the catalyst. Had NOTHING to do with me. All her, clearly."

"Wow, what the hell happened?" Daryl put his hands on his hips. "I mean, I'm standing here trying to think about what POSSIBLY could have happened that lead to this, and I just...what the hell could it be?"

"I'd really rather not talk about it," Takeru said, finally grabbing one of the muffins and shoving it into his mouth.

"Well, I'd hate to make you talk with your mouth full," Daryl said dryly. "Hey, just think about everything that's happened the last three weeks, whatever's eating at you should disappear pretty quickly."

Oh, if only it was that simple, Takeru thought as he swallowed down hard.

OOO

"And here's the star of the show thus far, here in seat seven, Takeru Ishida. We're three weeks into the world series, and he's absolutely running away with player of the year. Ten cashes, four deep runs, two bracelets, the kind of numbers you'd expect to see from an elite player in a FULL world series."

Takeru pulled up his seat, coming up against the edge of the table.

"I actually find it very fitting. This year's world series was dedicated to Zachary Fischer, a guy who absolutely steamrolled the world series the handful of times he actually participated in it. I, and many others, tend to believe that if Fischer had not had his life spin out of control, he would have put together some absolutely dominant world series runs, the likes of which we had never seen before. So to see this Takeru kid have an absurd amount of success really does well to honor Fischer's memory."

Takeru took a drag out of a bottle of water as the cards were dealt out.

"You know, it looks like Takeru might have stayed out a bit past his bedtime last night, he looks a little low-energy and maybe even a little dour. Can't blame him, he won that Stud Hi-Lo event last night. Also a bit odd, he's not been joined by Hikari, his supposed good luck charm. Might just be in the bathroom."

Takeru took a quick look down at his cards before tossing them over to the dealer.

"You know, Takeru's winnings so far in this world series are just shy of a million dollars, and that's net, that's after removing the buyins he's had to pay. Of course, things are only going to get harder, as well as more potentially lucrative."

"Three hundred." Jack Perry, in seat one, put in three black chips.

"Yeah, that's definitely true. Um, in the world series, the buyins for tournaments have a tendency to get bigger in the later tournaments. The earlier tournaments tend to be...one thousand, fifteen hundred, three thousand, in that area, and it starts climbing to...five thousand and eventually we get some ten thousands. And then in the last couple weeks, of course we have...a fifty thousand, the Player's Championship Horse event. And then obviously One Drop, which is just on an entirely different level. So the risk and reward just keeps climbing."

"And those big buyin tournaments also typically have more chips, which is big, right?"

"Oh, definitely. The earlier tournaments have smaller chip stacks to start, and with the blinds going up pretty quickly, it's...I don't want to say luck, but skill has less of a chance of shining through. In tournaments with small stacks and short blind levels, all it takes is a little bit of bad luck to completely crush you. Likewise, you pick up a run of good luck, you can ride it all the way to the top. So some of the elite players in the world have a tendency to...maybe thumb their nose at tournaments like that, because they feel like luck plays a bigger part. These tournaments with more chips, you can afford some bad luck and stay alive, and ultimately your skill level's more likely to win out."

"And we're not trying to say that...we think Takeru success so far has everything to do with luck, that's clearly not true, but...I think some people might think that. And they probably think these later tournaments aren't going to be nearly so kind to him."

OOO

"Four of hearts on the turn, no help to either player. Peja Slipmanovich leads with a pair of nines, Takeru has ace high with a club flush draw."

Peja stared down at the board. Seven of clubs, king of diamonds, nine of clubs, four of hearts. He tapped the table with his knuckles a few times.

"Peja checks his pair, he's got second pair, action over to Takeru."

Takeru looked over at his foe, then down to the board.

"If I was Takeru, I'd fire out a bet here. Easy for me to say, I can see the cards, but it's easy for Takeru to rep a king and get Peja to lay it down. Peja has ten nine offsuit, so he does not have any kind of redraw, and would probably not want to call a turn bet knowing he'd probably face a river bet as well."

Takeru, however, tapped the table a couple times as well.

"But Takeru checks behind. He's got ace five of clubs, needs an ace or a club to secure the hand."

"Yeah, I don't love that. I feel like it's a little too transparent that Takeru has a flush draw, so if he doesn't make his flush on the river, it'll be really hard for him to rep anything to get Peja off his nine."

The dealer put out a river card, the queen of diamonds.

"Queen on the river, not a club, Takeru's stuck with ace high. Peja quickly checks, he just wants a free showdown with his singular pair of nines."

Takeru, the action on him, slowly leaned forward towards the table.

"Well, Takeru has to bet to win the hand. Though he MIGHT not be thinking that, sometimes ace high is the best hand, but he probably thinks Peja has at least a pair. Question is, what can Takeru rep with a bet here?"

"It's tough, because...like I said, it looks like a flush draw that has now missed. Maybe he could rep ace king of clubs, that way he has a pair of kings and the flush draw, but...that hand would likely bet the turn. So maybe ace queen of clubs, maybe king queen or ace king without the flush draw."

"Four-fifty." Takeru put out four black chips and two green chips.

"Well, he's going for it, and it MIGHT work. He bets out four-fifty into a pot of eight hundred. Hard decision for Peja."

The short man with a small mustache took in a deep breath, pondering his decision.

"Looks like we just picked up a flood of viewers from the Three Thousand No Limit Holdem Turbo tournament that just wrapped up a few minutes ago. Welcome, we're here, broadcasting table seventeen of the Five Thousand No Limit Holdem Bounty tournament. While Peja is making his decision, let's talk about the bounty, because this is one of two tournaments in the world series that does bounties."

Peja looked over at Takeru. "I put you on the club draw," he said, his English a bit rough and labored. "I really did. I just don't...don't like the queen."

"Well basically, each player pays five thousand for the buyin and also receive what is called a bounty chip. When a player gets eliminated, they give their bounty chip to whichever player eliminated them. And on elimination, every bounty chip you have received from other players that you've knocked out can be cashed in for two hundred dollars each. And that two hundred dollars comes out of the ten percent rake that the world series would typically take from each buyin, so their rake for this tournament is just six percent instead of ten. It's just a way for each player to get extra incentive to try to knock players out, and it just adds to the fun."

"Lot of hands that I can't beat," Peja said. "But...definitely some that I can beat."

"Peja still in the tank here. I mean, the two hundred dollars per bounty chip...it's not a tremendous game changer, is it?"

"Well, it is if you cash in the tournament normally. If you think about it, some of the early cashers in a tournament like this, they get...less than seven thousand dollars, so they profit less than two grand. In that case, a handful of bounty chips is actually really significant. And for the players who make it to the end, especially the eventual winner, it's potentially very good. But yes, if you don't cash normally, if you end up with...three bounty chips, you're not gonna feel great."

"I call," Peja said.

"Good call," Takeru said, nodding. "Ace high."

"Wow! Great call by Peja!"

Peja turned over his hand, revealing the winner.

"Thought I could get you to fold a hand like that, great call," Takeru said, pitching his cards into the muck.

"I wanted you to bluff the river," Peja said. "I set it up so you would, but...then I was like...you could so easily have me beat!"

"And, not a great start to this tournament by Takeru, he's down to thirteen thousand chips, everyone starts with twenty. Not a bad move by him, just didn't work out."

"Yeah, I would have barreled on the turn personally, but...could have easily worked."

OOO

"Yeah, I call," Takeru said, putting in five black chips.

"Takeru's gonna come along, and why wouldn't he with such a strong draw. He has the chance of getting right back into this tournament as a force if he hits a spade. He's got ace nine of spades, Roger Childs holds jack eight. Flop was jack six jack with two spades."

The dealer put out a turn card, the eight of spades.

"WOW! What a card, Takeru makes the nut flush, and he's drawing stone dead against Childs's full house!"

"What a disaster card for Ishida. He's gotta love his hand here, but he's virtually guaranteed to lose a LOT of chips here. Ishida was just starting to climb his way out of the initial hole he was in, but this is trouble!"

"Nine hundred." Childs tossed out nine black chips.

"Nine hundred from Childs. He knows he has to start building a pot, he only has eight thousand chips left and he wants a full double-up from Takeru. Takeru has fifteen thousand chips left, so this is likely to cripple him."

Takeru, after some time in the tank, put out three purple chips.

"And Takeru raises it to three thousand! He thinks he's value betting, but all he's doing is pumping chips into the nuts! And now what does Childs do?"

"I call." Childs took back his black chips and put out three purples.

"Off to the river, a completely irrelevant river, Childs can not lose this hand, and he wouldn't even dream of folding no matter what hits here."

The dealer put down the king of hearts.

"Well, Roger no longer has the nuts, but I sincerely doubt that'll change anything for him."

Roger checked, tapping the felt a few times with his right hand.

"Well, he checks! Hopefully this isn't a show of fear from Roger, and he's actually laying a trap for Takeru. A trap that should work very well, by the way, Takeru has the exact hand that Roger is hoping he has."

"I'm all-in," Takeru announced.

Roger nodded a few times. "Yeah, I-I have to call," he said quickly. He motioned forward with his hands towards his chip stack. "Jacks full."

Takeru pursed his lips as Roger flipped his jack and eight over. "Yeah, that'll do it." He pitched his cards over to the dealer.

"Did not love that river card," Roger muttered. "Did not love that river."

"How do you think I feel about the turn card?" Takeru grumbled, still giving a look of annoyed surprise.

"Takeru tries to swallow that one, but he's crippled! Down to less than half of his original stack size, he might just be on borrowed time!"

OOO

"One thousand," Takeru put out a purple chip.

"Well, this might be it for Ishida! We're only a few hours into our Five Thousand No Limit Holdem Bounty event, Takeru's short stacked, and he's got pocket tens! If his tens hold up, he'll have new life, but if they don't, he's out! Let's see if he'll get any takers!"

"He raised to one thousand, two and a half times the big blind, very standard move. He's only got...six thousand left now, so if someone raises in front of him, he's just gonna jam and hope he's good. He's really not been running well in this tournament today, he's made a couple mistakes, he needs a double-up here very badly."

"Looks like he's getting some action out of the cutoff, Magda Pravalov has king queen offsuit. She's putting out a purple chip, she's in. Button folds, small blind folds, and big blind...well, Marv Freeman in the big blind, he hasn't folded yet, he's got...eight six of clubs."

"Not much of a hand, but he's got a discount. Only needs to put out another six hundred."

"I call." Freeman took back his blind and replaced it with a purple chip.

"Yeah, he's in! Takeru's in the lead with his tens to the flop."

The dealer burned a card, then took the next three. He flipped them up and spread them on the table. Ten of clubs, nine of hearts, seven of hearts.

"Wow! Takeru has top set, BUT Freeman has flopped the absolute nuts with a straight! Pravalov has a gutshot to a higher straight as well, this flop could inflict some serious pain!"

"Two grand." Marv Freeman put out two purple chips.

"No slowplay from Freeman, he puts out two thousand. Too many bad turn cards, any heart, a jack, or the board pairing would be a problem for Freeman."

Magda looked down at her cards for a moment before folding them over to the dealer.

"Magda doesn't want to risk any chips with her two overs and a gutshot, she just gets out of the way, good decision. And Takeru has to LOVE his hand, he'll be happy to play for all the chips right here. In fact, eight six is literally the ONLY hand in existence right now that has Takeru's set beat, he's got the second nuts!"

"I call." Takeru put out two chips as well.

"He's gonna slowplay his set a bit. He'll have just enough chips to go all-in on the turn, which I have to believe is going to happen one way or another. He has plenty of outs, the board pairing would give him the winning full house, but he's well behind right now!"

The turn card, the two of diamonds, was no help.

"That's what we call a brick on the turn, two of diamonds changes nothing. Takeru has twenty three percent equity in the hand, he'll need a rivered ten, nine, seven or two."

Marv took in a deep breath through his nose, looking over at Takeru.

"Again, I don't see Marv slowplaying. He could be up against a flush draw, and he wants to price Takeru out if that's the case."

"Four grand left?" Marv asked, looking over at Takeru's chip stack. Takeru quickly nodded. "Alright. All-in."

"I call," Takeru said immediately, pushing his chips forward. He flipped over the pocket tens, Marv turning over the straight. "Wow."

"And we've got ourselves a cooler. Takeru had the second best hand possible given the board, unfortunately for him, Freeman just happened to ahve the BEST one!"

"Pretty sick one," Marv said. "Put you on hearts."

"I guess this is better than having hearts," Takeru said, sounding somewhat listless. "Ten outs?"

The dealer brought the three of spades on the river, entirely ineffectual to Takeru.

"Alright, good hand." Takeru stood up, reaching over to shake Marv's hand. "See you around."

"And Takeru has been felted! Not even noon yet, and Ishida is gone! And he doesn't even have a bounty chip to salvage a piece of his buyin."

Takeru turned around and slowly trudged over to the railing, high-stepping over it.

OOO

~Takeru~

"My name is Daisy Scott, a lot of people know me from modeling and acting, and now, you're gonna know me for something else."

The entire collection of friends, all nine of them, were gathered around a large television screen projected onto a large white wall. Daisy was seated in a cushy chair, the same that Takeru had sat in three weeks ago at the behest of world series representatives. She was never not eye-catching, so there was no shock that her small black dress did well to compliment her figure. Sitting there, crossing her left leg over her right, she looked calm and confident.

"Yeah, of course, I love modeling and acting, those two things are very important to me, but...poker is a bigger passion for me, actually," Daisy explained. "My father was a very good gin rummy player, so I was sort of...exposed to card games in general through that. I didn't play it, I knew the rules and watched sometimes. And then I went to academy, and a few things happened. Um, nobody played gin rummy anymore, everyone played poker, and it was...everywhere at Skyridge. And I was very good at math, so it just...made sense for me to pick it up and start playing."

She shifted a bit in her seat, laughing a bit. "A lot of people didn't give me much credit for poker ability when I started, they just saw some...pretty girl who wanted to be part of the action. And that was fine, I have no problem being underestimated. I feel like I've been underestimated all my life here." She shrugged. "Probably not going to happen very much anymore after this world series."

The shot cut. "I love turbo poker, it rewards fast thinking, and it puts a ton of pressure on your opponents when you play unconventionally or play aggressively. I personally believe that...that a good poker player can analyze any situation and figure out what they SHOULD do in twenty seconds." She grinned. "Obviously, in these tournaments, you see some players thinking about a decision for...twenty minutes sometimes. My suspicion is that they only need twenty seconds to actually figure out what to do, the rest of the twenty minutes or whatever is just them deciding if they have the courage to do the right thing. At the end of the day, you've been in every situation a hundred times before if you play this game long enough, and I feel that a lot of the tanking you see in poker is just fear. So this format forces you to forget your fear and you just...play."

Daisy nodded. "So yeah, poker players of the world, I'm calling you out. Make decisions faster."

The screen went blank, prompting the real Daisy to stand up and put her hands up high in the air, turning around to face the large crowd of viewers. They all erupted into applause at the conclusion of the interview, Daisy beaming.

"Well, I think we all knew you'd get an interview no matter what happened." Ken reached forward towards her, extending his hand. Daisy took it, Ken then pulling her in close so he could hug her. After they had pulled away, Miyako stepped in and hugged her as well.

"Half a million!" Miyako enthused. "Zero point five million dollars!"

"Really makes the fifty grand I won look small," Akira said wryly, leaning in to hug Daisy as well. "Can't believe that last hand, you had him, you were gonna coast to heads up if you win that pot."

Daisy shrugged. "Well, I have more than enough jewelry at home. I'll take fourth place."

"Sounds like the words of someone who came in fourth," Takeru said dryly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, we can't all be freaks of nature, TK," Daisy replied, looking over at him. "I've guaranteed a profit this world series, I'm happy with it."

"Wait, are you...actually in a bad mood because you got bageled at the bounty event?" Sammy went over to Takeru, eyebrow raised. "Because if that's the case, I might just have to punch you in the face. We go way back, but I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't."

Takeru gave a bit of a nonplussed look. "I mean, I would have preferred not to, but...look, I already said, I don't want to get into it."

"Oh, what's this I hear?" Hido inserted himself into the conversation, going around Daisy and rounding on Takeru. "An attitude problem? Yuma said something to that effect when I ran into him earlier."

Takeru gave Hido a bit of a scathing look. "Man, don't even ask, it's not happening."

"No, I...your slave girl is giving you an attitude? That's what happened?" Hido leaned in towards Takeru, eyes widening a bit.

Takeru gave a small nod. "Yeah, that's...that's basically it."

"Oh my...you are such a sad individual," Hido said, looking almost ill. "I don't know if you know this or not, but there's something that a person can do, and should do, when a slave gets out of line. That's how this works."

"Yeah, I know, I'm not..." Takeru blinked down hard a few times. "That's not how...I'm not dealing with things like that." He waved Hido off. "I'm not gonna talk about it, and I don't need your advice."

"I told you she was worthless," Hido snarked. "Seriously, offer is still open to you."

"Offer declined," Takeru said firmly. "I'll deal with this in my own way."

"Okay, your call," Hido said. "I just don't understand you one bit."

"Okay, enough of all...that," Akira said, waving his hands around. "Nobody's playing in a tournament for the rest of the day, let's go do something fun. Between me and Daisy, we just made over five hundred and fifty thousand dollars, that calls for something!"

"Oooh, if it's up to me, everyone goes to get a mani-pedi," she said. "And nobody can complain about it!"

"It's a very...odd definition of fun that you have, Daisy," Takeru said quietly, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Daisy said, sounding a bit more serious than expected.

"No, no, I'll...come for whatever," Takeru said, waving her off. "I'm...I'm sorry, Daisy, I..." He gave his head a quick shake. "I got some stuff going on personally, I'm sorry, it's...affecting my mood."

Daisy pursed her lips, looking Takeru up and down.

OOO

~Hikari~

Somehow, when the series of light taps came from the door to her bedroom, Hikari didn't jump. She didn't feel fear or dread. She had spent too much time thinking about the bad things that could happen now that she had overstepped her bounds. Now, she wasn't even afraid of it. She was at peace with the possible disasters.

Instead, she simply picked her head up off her dresser and looked over at the door, almost lazily.

"It's not locked," Hikari said, just loud enough to be heard through the door. At least now she'd know what might come of all this. It was almost a relief.

And then, the door opened, and she was finally shocked. It wasn't Takeru who entered her bedroom. It was Daisy. She carried a small tray of cookies in her right hand. "Uh, room service?" Daisy said, looking around the room with a beaming smile.

"W-what...what are you doing here?" Hikari asked, sounding more defensive than she wanted to sound.

"Oh, just checking in." Daisy went over to the dresser, sliding the tray down on the wooden surface.

Hikari glanced at the door, left open behind Daisy. "Is...is Takeru here?"

"Nope." Daisy stood up tall, looking around the luxury bedroom, hands on her hips. "Doesn't even know I'm here, don't worry."

"How'd you get in here, then?" Hikari asked, scratching the side of her face.

Daisy gave a guilty little grimace, reaching into her waist pocket and pulling out a black keycard. "He'll, uh, have it back before he even notices it's gone." She shrugged, putting the card back into her pocket. "When you've got a body like mine, people tend to not watch where your hands are."

Hikari couldn't help a small smile. Something she hadn't done for about five days now. It had been mostly crying, in fact, as the emotions over her ruining of a good thing fluctuated. She had been fortunate enough to not run into Takeru once, and he had seemed content with leaving her alone. She would spend all her time in her room, deep in her thoughts, only emerging to get food whenever she could work up an appetite. Not once had she encountered Takeru on her kitchen trips. She had no idea what his lack of interest in confronting her meant, but it somehow didn't feel good.

"So, I don't really know what's going on." Daisy propped her left hand against the surface of the dresser, looking down at Hikari. "But Takeru's been in a pretty foul mood for...five days now, and this is after he went on one of the greatest world series of poker runs of all time and won two bracelets, so...whatever the heck happened, it must have been pretty big."

Hikari grimaced. "Yeah, I...screwed up pretty bad, didn't I?"

"I didn't say that," Daisy said comfortingly. "I just want to know what's going on. The guy wins a bracelet one day, comes out of his hotel room the next day without you, acting all pissy, and it hasn't stopped." She shrugged. "Very odd. He said it involved you, but...wouldn't talk about it."

Hikari sighed. "Should be having the time of his life, why'd I...why'd I have to do all this now?" She buried her head back into her arms. "Bleh."

"Are you so sure you did something wrong?" Daisy asked. "Probably feels like it right now. Might not be the case. I can...offer my third party opinion."

"Uh...okay." Hikari picked her head back up. "Look, I KNOW I did something wrong. I'm just not...smart enough to know exactly what it is, but...I definitely made a mistake." She blinked a couple times. "That...that night, we came back here, and he wanted to...you know, have some quick sex before sleep. We've done it a few times before, and...I don't like it."

Daisy nodded. "Well, there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe...surprising, all things considered, but that's fine."

"So, I told him that, and...he wanted to know why, so...I said that I didn't like how I could tell that it was meaningless to him and just a physical release and I didn't like it." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I know that...I know at the end of the day, I'm supposed to do what he wants, but...I guess all the stuff that's happened lately made my head too big or something."

"I don't know if I agree with that," Daisy replied softly. "I think it's reasonable for you to voice yourself like that. Takeru's a good, reasonable person, he should listen to something like that. Sexual stuff can be very important to some people." She leaned down a bit towards her. "Now, please don't tell me that Takeru's acting like this because you denied him sex, I'm smacking him if that's all this is."

"He was...he was confused," Hikari continued. "Which, it's confusing, so I get it. And then I...I couldn't stop myself, I just...started going on and on about...you know, the arrangement he has with The Angels. He...you know, he said I was...questioning his lifestyle, that's how he put it, and he didn't like that." She pushed out a large breath. "I...I said something about how...the girls, they're put in a position where they feel like they can't say no, and then he really got angry."

"Huh." Daisy nodded a few times. "You know, independent of anything else...I'm very impressed that you're capable of even...thinking about things like this, much less saying them. You should be proud of yourself."

"I'm not," Hikari said, sounding somewhat mournful. "I'm not proud of myself."

"You've spent almost all your life looking at the world through a keyhole. It'd be the easiest thing in the world for you to have no concept of things like this. The fact that you do, the fact that you can speak about them like this, it's...credit to you." Daisy patted Hikari's shoulder. "Really."

"Maybe." Hikari shrugged. "I don't think it's credit to me, look what happened!"

"Okay." Daisy stood back up straight. "Okay, I think I see what's going on here."

"Yeah, that's really the whole story," Hikari replied. "You should probably go in case he comes back, sometimes he comes back to the room in the middle of the day."

"I'm not just here to sate my curiousity," Daisy replied. "Takeru's one of my best friends in the whole world, and I like you too. I'd like to help."

"Don't worry about it," Hikari replied. "It's...it's all on me, I'm just...waiting for him to drop the hammer. Send me back to the Sasaki's or whatever."

"He's not gonna do that," Daisy insisted. "That's not how he handles things. The fact that he's left you alone for five days now, letting you stay here in your bedroom, that speaks volumes. Says that he does like you, and he has some respect for you. The fact that he's this upset is meaningful too, he cares." She took in a deep breath. "Alright. The thing about Takeru, that I understand, and that you should understand, is he's just having fun."

"I know, I know," Hikari said. "I know he's not...thinking about it like that. I shouldn't have gotten into all that, that was stupid."

"The reason why Takeru has the setup with the girls that he has is that...he almost views it as a natural extension of their work anyway. And I truly believe that he's never done anything without the consent from the girl." She cleared her throat. "That being said...you're right."

Hikari looked up at Daisy, quite surprised to hear that. "W-what do you mean?"

"Things are complicated sometimes. And in this case, you're right. Takeru's arrangement does put those girls in a rather difficult situation." Daisy nodded. "I understand completely. I'm sure that...most of those girls, most of the time, are thrilled to partake. But I'm not sure that all of those girls, all of the time, really want it. In fact, I think it's reasonable to say that, at least a few times over the last two years, someone has felt pressured to say yes when they didn't want to. In fact, I seem to have proof of that sitting right in front of me."

Hikari nodded. "Yeah, but...I shouldn't have said it."

"Maybe you should have," Daisy said. "Change can be...hard sometimes. Violent, even. But then, the change happens, and it was worth it."

"He, he was very angry at the end of our talk," Hikari insisted. "Very. I don't think there's going to be any change."

"He was angry because you...brought up the subject of consent with what he's doing. And Takeru views himself as a good person, because he is, and he doesn't like to think about things from that angle." Daisy leaned in closer to Hikari. "Considering things like this make him feel uncomfortable, because he doesn't want to be that kind of person. That doesn't mean what he's doing is right, and that doesn't mean you're wrong for bringing it up. In fact, I'd guess that part of the reason why he got so upset is that he realizes that...there is a bit of truth in what you said."

Hikari blinked a few times, eyes rotating around slowly. "So...I did the right thing?"

Daisy shrugged. "Maybe there was a better way to talk about it. I don't know, I wasn't there. This is all just a theory anyway, I might be way off." She gave a small laugh. "I uh...that conversation we had on the balcony...is that where this came from?"

"It helped," Hikari admitted. "It helped a lot. Just in terms of summing up the courage to do it, yeah, it...it was a part of it."

"Oh, I'm stupid, I shouldn't have said that." Daisy leaned up against the wall by the dresser. "Sent you into battle without a rifle, putting that kind of pressure on you, that's awful."

"No, no, it was...it would have happened anyway, I think." Hikari put her arms up to her sides. "So...what do I do now?"

"Oh, he'll come around," Daisy assured her. "You've already seen the worst, I'm pretty sure. If anything really bad was going to happen, it would have happened by now. He'll put it together, he's smart enough to do that. I can't talk to him, he needs to...needs to do this on his own. And he will." She motioned to Hikari. "I just...I came here to make sure you were okay and get some context."

"I feel a lot better now," Hikari admitted. "Thank you, I...I appreciate it."

Daisy gave a tiny smile. "If it makes you feel any better, he's running horribly ever since you stopped watching. Five days of cold decks and bad reads, or so he says."

"It doesn't," Hikari replied. "He's still the guy who saved my life and saved my brother and has...been nicer to me than just about anyone I've ever met." She leaned back heavily in her chair. "That's the thing. Should I really be pushing things with someone who's been so good to me?"

"Sometimes, pushing is required," Daisy responded. "I'm serious, though, suddenly the kid can't get anything to go right for him. If nothing else, he'll mend things with you just because of that."

Hikari smiled, but rolled her eyes as well. "It's not like...I was actually the reason he was doing well."

Daisy looked up at the ceiling. "Hey. Not saying correlation implies causation...but sometimes it can furtively glance in the right direction."

Hikari gave a bewildered look at Daisy.

"It means that...he wins when you're there, he loses when you're not, so we can't rule out a connection completely." She pointed at the small tray. "Eat those. See you soon."

Daisy turned and gave Hikari a small wave as she departed, leaving her in much brighter spirits than before.

OOO

Takeru stared almost vacantly at the dealer across from him, eyes lazy and unfocused, posture slouched.

"Takeru Ishida in seat five, big story from this world series with his early run of success. He's gone a bit dry over the past five days, a slew of quick exits, but he's still well in front in the player of the year rankings for the world series."

Takeru continued to think, clearly deep in the tank over his options.

"Yeah, two bracelets, ten cashes, he's honestly due for a run of bad cards. He said in a quick interview this morning that over the past five days, he just can't get anything to go his way. He's getting cold decked a lot and he's making bad decisions, he admits both are factors. But this is the variance of poker, sometimes you're the bug, sometimes you're the windshield."

Takeru's mouth moved around a little bit.

"Yeah, and Takeru enjoyed a nice run as the windshield, won nearly a million dollars. Of course, the thing is, these later tournaments with more money in the prize pools, there's also a bit of a weighted distribution of points for player of the year. These later tournaments count for more in that ranking, so if a player were to catch fire over the next few weeks, it's very possible to get up past Takeru if he just stays stagnant."

"Hey, you know it's on you, right?" The player in seat eight, Charles De Santa, leaned in towards Takeru.

Takeru suddenly snapped out of his apathetic pose, almost jolting awake. "O-oh, what?" He looked around the table. "Oh, crap!" He took a quick look down at his cards, then threw them over to the dealer. "I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't know it was on me, sorry!"

"Yeah, I was about to say something," the dealer said, laughing a bit. "I mean, it's preflop, how hard can the decision be?"

"Yeah, sorry guys," Takeru said, giving his head a little shake. "I...I didn't know it was on me, sorry."

"Wow, uh...looks like Takeru wasn't trying to make a decision about his cards. Maybe he was having an intense mental battle over what to eat for dinner tonight."

Takeru, his hand folded, had a slightly bemused expression as he leaned back yet again. He put the tip of his right hand's thumb up to his mouth, nibbling on the nail.

"Good thing Charles said something, or else we could have been waiting all day. Alright, with that delay over with, let's get some Three Thousand Omaha Hi-Lo action kicked off!"


	18. Smart Laydown

Chapter 18: Smart Laydown

"Seventh street comes face down, as always. Takeru Ishida has to catch a good card here, but there are a LOT of good cards for him. He's got a draw to the best possible hand in Razz, in fact, with an ace deuce three four in his hand, but it's been a frustrating runout for him."

Takeru, left hand still propping up the side of his head, reached forward towards the down card he had just been tossed with his right.

Julie Duncan, three seats to the right of Takeru, puckered her lips and gave a little shrug. "I have a...king low, so I'm sure you're good."

"Takeru is already all-in, so there's no reason for Julie to be coy about what she's got. To recap, Takeru was dealt ace two three four in his first four cards, and then caught a pair of aces and a pair of deuces, but all he needs is to NOT pair up here and he'll get some chips together."

Takeru peeled up his card, immediately giving a bit of a incredulous laugh.

"Takeru picks up a four, he's paired up yet again!"

"I...I have three pair," Takeru said, flipping over his card in disgust. "Look at this." He then flipped over his other two down cards.

"Takeru has every low card you would want in Razz, but he's paired up three times, and he's out of the Five Thousand Razz event!"

Takeru stood up, visibly annoyed, reaching across the table for a quick handshake with Julie. "Literally any card that didn't pair me would have been good."

"What a runout," a player to the left of Takeru muttered under his breath. "This damn game, huh?"

"Something like that," Takeru grunted, turning around and striding over to the railing.

"And the rough run of cards for Ishida continues, he exits another event early on, he's now been ice cold for over a week!"

OOO

Takeru put out eight hundred black chips past the yellow line, wordlessly indicating a call.

"And Takeru takes another step into the valley of unhappiness, he's drawing very thin, he needs one of the two remaining jacks on the river to win this hand."

The dealer tossed down the king of clubs, completing the board, then motioning over to Takeru.

"And that could get Takeru into a bit of trouble. He might think that that king is a good card for him, since with two kings on the board it makes it less likely that Kyle Nabon has a king in his hand, which improves the odds that his pocket jacks are good. But Kyle does, indeed, hold a king, and now he's got even more confidence that his hand is best."

"I check," Takeru said, pointing over at Kyle.

"Takeru checks again, so he seems aware of the danger. Will he be aware enough of it to fold to a bet? At this point, his two jacks can only really beat a bluff."

"Seventeen hundred," Kyle announced, putting out nearly a full stack of black chips.

"Kyle lays Takeru a pretty reasonable price to make the call, he bets about half the pot. Not sure Takeru is going to call it, but it's got to be worth considering with that price."

Takeru put his hand up to his chin, thinking, expression flat as he considered the size of Kyle's wager.

"Takeru seems to realize that he's beat. And he probably should. If Kyle didn't have a king in his hand, would he really keep barreling when another king hits the river? The way this hand has gone, it's pretty believable that Takeru's the one with a king, so that would be a smart card for him to give up on if he was bluffing."

Takeru took one of his stacks of black, taking three chips off the top.

"Ah, I think this might be a bit of a frustration call, if he's indeed making it. Just not enough that he beats to make this profitable."

Takeru put the chips forward, prompting Kyle to turn over a king of diamonds and eight of diamonds. Takeru gave a shuddering little flinch, scowling, before throwing his cards over to the muck.

"Well, he's even more frustrated now. The way he's glaring over at Kyle, seems like he's annoyed that his preflop raise was called by king eight suited. Admittedly, it was a bit of a loose call, but it secured Kyle a pretty nice pot!"

Takeru rolled his eyes.

OOO

"Well, this might just be a nice salve for Takeru's many wounds over the past...ten days now."

Takeru pulled his two cards down, next to each other on the edge of the table in front of him, after observing his pocket kings and showing them to the hole camera.

"Pocket kings under the gun, the two red kings, pretty nice way to start a hand. If he can find a way to win a decent-sized pot here, he could definitely become a force at this table. All it takes is one or two pots for everything to turn around."

"Yeah, he's actually been doing better in this tournament than any other over the last several events."

"Three thousand." Takeru put out three purple chips.

"He's going for three times the big blind here."

In short order, each player around the table took a quick look at his or her two hole cards before whisking them over to the dealer.

"And...well, this might be a bit frustrating for Takeru. Nobody has anything. With a hand this big you want to pick up more than just the blinds and antes. I guess he'll take it—"

The big blind player, a large bald man, tucked his cards up against the edge of the table, pondering his options with ace four of diamonds.

"Oh, well...maybe not. Patrick O'Bryant already has the big blind committed to this pot, and he's got a small suited ace, looks like he's at least considering it."

"I call." Patrick tossed three chips over the yellow line, into the pot.

"Looks like he'll come along. He's a big underdog right now, but all he's gotta do is catch an ace to take the lead. Takeru's getting some action on his kings, let's see if he ends up wishing he hadn't."

"Two players." The dealer burned the top card off the deck, then dealt out the ace of hearts, ace of spades, and four of clubs to the board.

"OH BOY!"

"Patrick O'Bryant has flopped a full house, aces full of fours, he's got the nuts!"

Patrick lightly tapped his fingertips on the table a couple times.

"Patrick checks, hoping that Takeru fires out a continuation bet, he might just get his wish! Takeru probably likes that flop, it makes it much less likely that Patrick has an ace with two hitting the board."

Takeru, however, pointing his index finger at the dealer.

"Well, Takeru's checking, no c-bet from him. If he puts Patrick on an ace, and it seems like he does, then perhaps he CAN dodge danger here."

The dealer put out the six of clubs on the turn. Patrick took several seconds before checking again.

"Well...Patrick's checked the turn, and Takeru's quickly checked as well. Not sure what's going on here, but Patrick is missing out on a chance to build a pot, and Takeru seems to smell danger despite Patrick's passive play!"

"Takeru actually drawing dead here, the worst thing that could happen is a king hitting the river. Takeru might go broke if that happens."

The dealer put out a three of clubs, prompting a final round of betting between the two. Patrick, again, was quick to check.

"And he's checked again! Hoping that Takeru falls into his trap, seems like a bit of wishful thinking after three checks from the twenty-year-old."

Takeru, however, thought for a moment, then pulled four purple chips from his stack in the back of his rows of chips and fired them out into the pot.

"Takeru has taken the bait! He's fired out four thousand, Patrick has gotten exactly what he wanted, and...you know, all things considered, credit to him for playing the hand this way. He risked getting no value out of his flopped full house, but he somehow got the sense that Takeru would fold to any bet, and gave Takeru the chance to hang himself."

Patrick, after several seconds, grabbed a stack of purple chips, pulled five off the top of it, and pushed the remainder in.

"And there's the raise, Patrick makes it fifteen thousand!"

Takeru's neck jerked over to look at the stack that was being pushed forward, eyes widening a bit. Slowly, he started shaking his head.

"And...and Takeru knows he's just been had, look at his face."

"Oh boy." Takeru looked back down at his two kings. "I'm trapped."

"Yup, he knows it. Patrick has got some guaranteed value on the river, and now there's nothing for Takeru to do but fold his kings."

Takeru gave an annoyed grunt, looking down at his chips.

"Oh...Takeru, don't do it, you just said it yourself, you know he's got it."

With a frustrated sigh, Takeru gathered up eleven purple chips and shoved them forward.

"Yeah, that's a frustration call by Takeru, I think. O'Bryant is an active, aggressive player, but he just wouldn't make that play without trip aces at the minimum! Such a large raise too, why would he do that without having it?"

Patrick turned over his full house, leaving Takeru to grimace.

"Yeah, that'll do it," he said, folding his kings over to the dealer.

"And credit to Patrick, he passed up opportunities to bet the flop and turn, and got a BIG value raise on the river for his patience!"

"Pretty great flop," Takeru said dryly.

OOO

Queen of clubs, eight of hearts, jack of diamonds.

"Oh, there we go! Action flop! Takeru Ishida has flopped a straight, and Anthony Weller has flopped bottom set! We're gonna see some fireworks here!"

Takeru leaned forward a bit in his chair, looking down at the cards, before gathering together six black chips and putting them forward.

"Takeru isn't going to slowplay here. He's flopped the nuts, and he's going to put out six hundred! And Anthony, he's still got plenty of equity in this hand, but you have to believe he thinks that his set of eights is going to be the best hand almost all the time even without filling up! Takeru has Anthony covered, so if Anthony doesn't get some help, he could be out of this tournament early!"

Slowly, Anthony put out six black chips as well.

"Anthony calls. Probably thinks he's slowplaying and trapping, but he's behind right now. Takeru has the queen high straight, Anthony has the three eights."

The dealer put down the eight of diamonds.

"And there it is! Weller has turned quads! He would have taken any card that paired the board, but that's the best card in the deck! Takeru is now drawing dead, his straight can not improve to beat Anthony's quads! What a card!"

"One thousand." Takeru put out half a stack of black.

"Takeru is going to keep betting. He puts out another thousand chips that he's not going to be getting back. And Weller has a decision, do you call and hope Takeru hangs himself on the river, or do you raise and risk losing him now?"

Anthony, after several moments, put out a purple chip.

"He just calls. And I like this. Takeru probably still thinks he has the best hand. Might think Anthony is hanging around with a queen, or something like ace eight. You can bet that Takeru, looking for maximum value, will bet again on most rivers."

An ace of hearts completed the board.

"Ace of hearts on the turn, very interesting card. If Takeru was putting Anthony on a hand like ace eight, then that could save Takeru some money. But if Takeru thinks Anthony has, say, ace queen, he might lose more money, believing that he can now get extra value out of his straight since Anthony has rivered two pair."

"Fifteen hundred," Takeru said quietly, pushing out fifteen black chips.

"And there he goes! Takeru bets fifteen hundred, no doubt hoping he gets called by a hand like ace queen. Unfortunately for him, he's going to get raised. And when he gets raised, I think he'll realize he's beat. This has been a pretty bad runout for a flopped straight."

"All in," Anthony said, waving his hand forward towards the table. Immediately, Takeru crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes.

"Hey, here's a fun idea, how about I flop the nuts every single hand and still lose?" Takeru said sarcastically, more to himself than anyone.

"And Takeru knows it! Anthony moves all-in for his last six thousand, and Takeru is already detecting that he's been beat!"

"Oy-vey," Takeru groaned, running his right hand over his face. "This is getting pretty gross."

"Takeru has been running very bad lately. In this tournament alone, he's flopped the nuts three or four times, and ended up getting smashed on the turn or river every time. It's happening again, and this time, if he calls, he'll be down to only two thousand in chips, not really enough to do anything."

"Okay." Takeru cleared his throat. "Nut straights...full houses..."

"But I don't think Takeru is gonna call. Quite simply, at this point, he doesn't beat anything except a bluff. And this would be a crazy bluff to try after Takeru bet on every single street. His hand is very good, but of the big hands possible on this board, his hand is pretty much the worst one."

"I don't think you have the nut straight, but...I don't know." He swallowed down hard. "Maybe ace queen?"

"Anthony would not go all-in here with ace queen. He would definitely understand that Takeru has a real hand, with him betting as much as he did, and would just call. Takeru should be good enough to know that."

"Okay, fine." Takeru grabbed several purple chips along with a black stack, pushing them forward. "No idea what you have, I'm just gonna call."

"And Takeru can't lay it down! He's gonna pay off Anthony, and I think he's going to want this one back when he thinks back on this hand."

"Quads." Anthony flipped over his eights.

"Yeah, that's about right." Takeru flipped his cards into the muck. "Flopped the nuts. Again." He grimaced, leaning back in his chair. "How many times can it happen?"

OOO

"Wow! Takeru needed an all-in hand, and he just got the best all-in hand in Holdem!"

Takeru put the tops of his cards back against the felt, both of them bearing the very welcome 'A' that poker players typically desired from their cards. He folded his hands together in front of him.

"Takeru's got...eight big blinds left, no reason to not just let it all fly. And if he gets any action here and wins, he'll be in great position to do something he hasn't done in about two weeks here, and cash in a world series event!"

Takeru gathered up the sparse number of chips still before him in his hand and put them forward, committing his tournament life on his current hand.

"And Takeru will indeed shove with his aces! We're three away from the money here in the Ten Thousand No Limit Holdem Six-Handed event, Takeru one of many players running on vapors. He's fought very hard for the last day and a half to get to this point, and now he's taking the plunge. Three players to act behind him."

"This one's...this one's borderline," Scotty Foster muttered from Takeru's left, looking down at his cards. "Nah." He fired them over to the dealer.

"I call," the small blind snapped immediately after viewing his holdings, grabbing a handful of chips and pushing them into the middle.

"And he's getting some action from Tony O'Dea in the small blind with pocket kings! Takeru loves this, he's an eighty percent favorite to double up, and Tony O'Dea is about to find himself in the poker nightmare, kings against aces!"

The big blind folded quickly, and Takeru turned over his aces. Tony's face wrinkled and he made a little grunt as he flipped up his kings.

"Alright, I'm about to breathe life into a two-time bracelet winner," Tony grumbled. "Everyone else in the table is gonna hate me, I'm gonna double you up now."

"Tony knows that Takeru is a dangerous, capable player from what happened over the first three weeks, didn't want to give him more chips to work with, but unless he can come from way behind here, that's exactly what we're looking at."

"Not like you can fold for less than eight more blinds," Takeru said, standing up from his seat and watching as the dealer prepared to put down the flop.

"Takeru is way ahead, but he is the player at risk. And after all of his hard work in this tournament to get this far, he does NOT want to see it end three short of the money."

The flop came out. King of spades, king of hearts, five of diamonds.

"OH! We got QUADS!"

Takeru broke out into a smile and started laughing, adjusting the lapels of his jacket as he sidestepped away from the table.

"And Takeru is ready to accept his fate, his aces have been pulverized. He's actually drawing dead, since Tom Edwards folded an ace from under the gun."

"Oh my GOD!" Tony gasped, his mouth having dropped open and stayed there for several seconds. "Wow!"

"Even O'Dea can't believe that one, flopping quads to eliminate a player near the bubble. Turn card means nothing, a seven of clubs, Takeru can not win this hand unless the deck is discovered to be foul."

"I guess if you're gonna get eliminated, that's the way to do it," Takeru said, shrugging. "Good playing." He gave Tony a quick handshake, then walked off towards the railing. As he did, the dealer put down an ace of diamonds on the river.

"And...you know, you almost have to laugh, Takeru was able to laugh at it himself, Takeru catches an ace on the river after it doesn't matter one iota, he's got aces full of kings and it's no good."

Takeru stepped over the railing and quickly made his way through the dense crowd packed around the table.

"He's actually taking it pretty well, some players wouldn't have been nearly so courteous. He's clearly frustrated, it's been a rough two weeks for him, but nobody's going to feel sorry for him all things considered."

OOO

~Takeru~

"How are those, huh? They good?" Ken leaned over the table surface, spying Takeru's platter of shrimp.

The two friends had decided to head down the street from The Horseshoe, finding a five-star seafood restaurant called New Capital. They had managed to secure a small, circular table in the corner of the large, dimly lit chamber, air filled with soft ambiance and violin music.

Takeru nodded. "Yeah, they're...they're shrimp. You've had shrimp before, right?"

Ken gave him a bit of a reproachful look before quickly wiping it from his face. "Uh, yeah, but...are these shrimp, are they good?" Both of them kept their voices down, speaking at a level appropriate for the environment.

"Yeah, they better be, the way the waiter kept going on and on about them," Takeru replied, putting his elbows up on the corner of the table and steepling his hands in front of his face. "I don't like these chairs. The chairs at The Horseshoe are better, that's kind of sad really. Poker chairs more comfortable than the chairs at a five star restaurant." He looked down at the seat he had taken. "Some spiteful person out there flunked out of architecture school, now he takes it out on the asses of the general public."

Ken couldn't help but crack a grin. "Wow, that's...that's quite a little diatribe. I'm impressed."

"Alright." Takeru turned back to the table, grabbing one of the shrimp and putting it in his mouth, pulling the meat out of the tail. "Now you can start lecturing me at any time, I'm ready to listen, I know I deserve it. Come on, it's just us, nobody else here, I know why you asked me to eat here with you, let's just do it."

"Well, part one of solving a problem is admitting you have it," Ken said. "So that's good."

"Uh-huh." Takeru dropped the empty tail onto the plate in front of him.

"Hey, I get it. Running bad in poker sucks. Running bad during the world series is even worse. I'm really not here to lecture you," Ken said with a small laugh. "Nothing like that."

"Oh come on," Takeru said. "Come on, chew me out, you know you want to. I win two bracelets and nearly a million dollars in three weeks, and now I'm sulking after going cold for two weeks, you know you wanna slap me."

"Look," Ken said, leaning in a bit closer to Takeru, adjusting himself in his seat. "I...it's not even that. I'd be annoyed too if nothing went my way for two weeks during the world series, doesn't matter what you did before. It's just...I can only speak for myself, but...look, me, Miyako, Daisy, Daryl, Sammy, everyone, we went nuts for you when you were setting the casino on fire! We loved it, we did the whole nine yards trying to support you through everything!"

"And I appreciate all of it, believe me," Takeru replied, nodding, wiping his mouth off.

"I know you do." Ken shrugged. "It's just...the last two weeks, yeah, bad for you, but...hey, I can only speak for myself, but I think others would back me up, there's more going on here than just what you're doing. Daisy won half a million dollars, Miyako cashed twice, Sammy cashed three times and made a final table, Daryl hit gold two tournaments in a row, Yuma played the best Stud of his life, all of us, we're putting together a...a world series run for the ages as a group."

"I know, I know," Takeru said, nodding. "And I think that's awesome."

"Yeah, but...come on. We get together after these successes, and...you're there physically, but...it feels like that's all it is. Like, you're not...into our successes because you're hung up on your struggles."

Takeru sighed, giving Ken a look of admission. "Well. Would you believe me if I said that wasn't even what it was?"

"Hey, if it isn't, it isn't." Ken put his hands up to his sides defensively. "Just feels like it." He leaned back in his chair a bit, taking a sliver of lobster and devouring it.

"It really gets on my nerves too," Takeru said. "I've done all these great, amazing things, won more than I ever imagined possible, I'm a guaranteed winner at this point no matter what, and...I honestly feel like I'm leaving stuff on the table." He blinked a few times. "I know I'm...making mistakes, I know they're mistakes as I'm making them, but I do them anyway out of...who knows?"

"When it rains, it pours," Ken agreed. "Bad luck, bad decisions, they tend to come together, I totally get you." He scratched the side of his neck. "Look, you can do whatever you want, but you could...tighten up the rest of the way."

Takeru gave a small laugh. "Sad thing is, I was just thinking about that today." He winced. "After that...crap in the ten thousand six-handed, I just...started thinking about everything in the worst-case scenario." He pursed his lips. "If I just win that hand, and I...cash, even a little bit, I'd feel so different right now."

"I'm not your life coach or anything, but...you know, stick around for the whole thing. But forget the 50K horse, skip the 25K Holdem and Omaha, play everything else. Even if you wash out of everything, you'll get out of here with...what, three quarters of a million in profit, even after expenses to The Horseshoe for the room and food."

"The Horseshoe's comping most of that," Takeru said quietly. "Another benefit of those first three weeks." He gave a dry smirk. "Just hope they don't rescind it after all this junk."

"See, even better!" Ken clapped his hands softly. "Eight hundred grand, maybe more, and that's at the worst! Even after taxes, you've boosted your bankroll a ridiculous amount, and your public image from the two bracelets is invaluable." He nodded. "Just...shorten up a bit, stay out of the high rollers, and...you'll leave feeling good no matter what."

"I don't even think that's it," Takeru countered. "Look, if I bomb out in those high roller events, even after taxes I've got a guaranteed...half a million, that's music to my ears. Me protecting that hundred grand in buyin money isn't gonna make me feel better." He sighed. "The thing is...what if I deserved all this?"

Ken raised an eyebrow at his friend. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, all these bad cards, cold decks, what if...what if I deserved it?" Takeru repeated.

"Well, you do," Ken said matter-of-factly. "And good on you for realizing it. After those first three weeks? Yeah."

"No no, I'm not...not talking about regression to the mean or anything like that." Takeru cleared his throat. "Okay, um...Ken, you know the...that arrangement I have with the girls back in The Mecca?"

"Yeah, of course," Ken replied, nodding. "What, time away from your harem has given you blue balls and making you run bad? You trying to tell me that?"

Takeru couldn't help but laugh a bit, leaning back in his chair, the seat creaking under his weight. "You know, for a literal genius, you can be a pretty funny guy." His smile faded as he thought. "My...my deal with the girls, what do you think about it?"

"I don't think about it," Ken answered quickly. "Nothing to do with me, that's between you and them."

"Well, think about it for a moment," Takeru asked. "I'm opening the door for you to make it your business, your opinion is valued, what say you?"

Ken's forehead wrinkled for a moment, head tilting to look down at the floor. "Well, since you asked, gimme a second."

Takeru nodded. "Take your time."

"Well, I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing if I was in your position," Ken admitted. "So there's that. Yeah, my father running a giant casino, he comes up and asks me to assemble a team of pretty prostitutes, if I was single, yeah, I'd have a hell of a time resisting."

"Yeah, I'm...living the dream, right?" Takeru shrugged. "I'm doing what...most men want to do, they just can't do it."

"And I'm...sure you're not sexually assaulting these girls, so yeah, noted," Ken continued. "These girls, you've made their lives many times better, and I'm sure they're deeply appreciative of that, and I'd imagine they're more than happy to do it with you." Ken's head dipped a little bit. "But, stepping back and looking at things...yeah, there are some questions about it."

Takeru gave a small sigh. "Yeah. Spent the last couple weeks thinking about it, and...I have to agree. Took me two weeks, took you twenty seconds, that's not a great sign for me."

"Yeah, but I'm impartial," Ken countered. "So, what, you're...doing badly at poker because you...suddenly feel guilt about using a team of prostitutes as your personal harem?"

Takeru gave a hiccuping laugh. "God damn, when you put it like that, I'm just...talking in crazy circles, aren't I?" He rolled his eyes. "What am I doing?"

"Uh, anyway..." Ken blinked a couple times. "Yeah, if you want to talk about the issue of consent, these girls are your slaves, so...consent becomes a very gray area, and consent is best left black and white. Since these girls have a submissive relationship with you, you can't know for sure that yes really means yes, so...it's tricky. I'm not saying that it's definitely bad, but it's...potentially bad." He waved his hand at Takeru. "Not calling you a bad person, but it's...got to be said."

"It's fine, Ken, say anything on your mind, I asked you," Takeru said. "Yeah, I...my father told me to put this squad of sex workers together, these girls were very grateful for what I had done for them, so...two plus two is four, I took one more step down the rabbit hole." He clicked his tongue a couple times.

"So, what does this have to do with...anything, exactly?" Ken asked.

Takeru sighed again. "The night I won my second bracelet, I went back to my hotel room and I wanted a quickie with Hikari before I went to sleep, it was going to be like our...fourth time. I got up there, and...she said she didn't want to do it. She said that she didn't like it, because it was meaningless sex and it...didn't mean anything to me." He sucked his cheek inbetween his teeth. "Which is kinda weird, given that she works as a prostitute back at the casino, but...okay. And then she goes off into this...monologue about how it's wrong for me to be doing this with the girls, and I'm putting them in a bad position, and...I don't know where she gets all this from, so bizarre."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's a girl who grew up on fairy tales," Ken muttered under his breath.

"Anyway, I got...pissed off and I said a bunch of stupid shit, and...I haven't talked to her since." Takeru put his hands up on the table surface. "I mean, I saved this girl's life, I saved her brother's life, I give her the easiest work I can, I bring her here and don't ask her to do anything except this, and...she responds by judging my lifestyle. But now, I'm thinking about it, and...well, there's something there."

Ken took a drink from his glass of water. "What happens when a girl says no to you?"

"Moot point, it's never happened before," Takeru responded.

"Sure, but what would you have done if...one of the girls at The Mecca turned you down when you asked?"

Takeru pursed his lips. "I'd be fine with it, I don't want to have sex with a girl who's not interested and engaged. Look, when Hikari said...she didn't want it, I was fine with it, it was...after that that everything got weird." He frowned. "I just...I don't like her implying that I'm some kind of...sexual offender, or whatever, and that's kind of what the implication was, so I got angry. Now, I'm sitting here, and...it's not as far-fetched as I would like." He rolled his eyes. "See, I was having fun, and then someone had to swoop into my life and make me think about things. She made me think, she ruined everything."

"Sounds like you've already put the pieces of the puzzle together," Ken said. "So I'll just add...one consideration. And this might not mean anything to you, but I'll put it out there." Ken swallowed down a piece of lobster meat. "When I was at academy, I...had more than my share of fun."

"You don't need to tell me that," Takeru said wryly. "I was there with you, I know what you were getting up to."

"Oh yeah." Ken nodded. "So you know, I had plenty of meaningless sex while I was there. It was nice, I had fun, I don't regret it. But...I'll say this. When I decided I was done with all that, and I settled down with Miyako...it's really a completely different feeling."

"Now you're just sounding corny," Takeru said.

"I know, but it's true," Ken insisted. "When you've got a real connection, a real relationship with someone, it's a lot more satisfying." He shrugged. "For whatever that's worth to you. And it should be worth something, you know you've got a solid ten waiting for you. Say the word, and she's all yours."

Takeru nodded. "You make it sound like she's a piece of cake I'm saving in the fridge after I'm done with the buffet, but...I get your point."

Ken gave a little laugh. "Not the worst metaphor I've ever heard in my life. Come on, though, you must see how she looks at you. Girls like that don't come around that often, and after this world series, her popularity is gonna go up by an order of magnitude, she won't be around much longer." Ken blinked down hard a couple times. "O-Okay, enough matchmaker crap from me. All of this stuff with Hikari is...clearly bothering you a lot, you're still hung up on it after two weeks, so first thing you gotta do is address that. The rest is up to you, but...you should resolve that, it's been two weeks."

"Yeah." Takeru slowly stood up from his chair. "Alright. Thanks man. You've been a real help."

"Sounds like you had most of it figured out already," Ken replied. "Now come on, tomorrow's a pretty big one, show up with a decent attitude."

OOO

~Hikari~

An array of knocks from the bedroom door. Again, Hikari didn't take the sounds as an invitation to panic or despair. All the time that had passed had worn away at her nerves, and that combined with Daisy's visit had her feeling surprisingly confident. She was almost anticipating the time when Takeru would approach her again.

"Come in," she said softly, looking over at the door. The knob twisted, and the door swung inward, revealing her master standing on the threshold.

There was an extended silence as they stared at each other.

"You haven't left this hotel room for two weeks, how have you not gone crazy?" Takeru asked, voice soft and hushed.

"I've been through far worse things in my life," Hikari replied, putting her hands together in her lap and spinning her chair around to face him.

Takeru nodded, looking down at the carpet, slow stepping inside the room. "So, uh...have I missed my window to fix all this?"

"U-uh, what?" Hikari slowly stood up. "No, why...why would it be?"

Takeru shook his head. "Nevermind. You know, you're the first girl to ever turn me down." He licked his upper lip. "That includes when I was at academy, fooling around. So, you've got that going for you. Gotta count for something."

"Maybe I'm just the dumb one," Hikari said, giving a small smile nevertheless. "Sir, I'm...look, I definitely crossed the line that night, I apologize, I...I'm in no position to tell you how to conduct your life and to judge you for what you do, and...I really just got carried away with some of the things I said. I view you as one of the nicest, best people I've ever known in my life, and what I said was a very poor reflection of that, so...I'm sorry, I crossed the line."

"Sure," Takeru said wistfully. "But maybe crossing the line isn't such a bad thing to do once in awhile." He waved his hand towards her as he went over at sat down at the foot of the bed. "It gave me a lot to think about."

"I've spoken with some of The Angels in personal conversation, they're more than happy with the arrangement you have with them, so for me to suggest some of the things that I did was...well, it was wrong." She nodded quickly. "You're a great man, you treat people beneath you as well as anyone I know of, and...all I can say is I'm sorry."

"I'm not sure I can accept that apology," Takeru said, looking down at the carpet in front of him. "You just...you gave me so many things to think about, I'm not sure there's much a need for it."

Hikari went over to sit on the bed at Takeru's side. "I went too far, I'm sure of it. And...I can't expect other people to have the same...view of things that I do."

"Hikari, just let me say one thing." Takeru turned to her. "It's possible that I've put some girls through some unfortunate things over the past couple years. Thinking about it now, it's...possible." He blinked a few times. "I do everything in my power to treat these girls well, treat them like employees of the casino, so...maybe naively, I believe they're empowered enough to say whether or not they want to do something." He swallowed. "Maybe not the case. But let me say that I always believed that I was simply having harmless fun. If bad things did happen, I didn't mean any of it."

"I believe you." She took in a deep breath. "When I was a little girl...you have to understand, life's terrible," Hikari began. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you that. You've got nothing to look forward to, no hope of it getting better, it's all just...bad." She grimaced. "My parents used to tell me a lot of stories, just as some sort of...escape from where we were. Like, fairy tale sorts of things."

"Oh my God," Takeru said, keeling over a bit. "Freaking Ken, how does he do it?"

"Huh?" Hikari froze mid-story.

"N-nothing, go on, keep going," Takeru said dismissively.

"So, those kinds of stories are...really all I ever had outside of my own tiny existence." Hikari rubbed her hands along her thighs. "So I...I have a certain view on things like...romance, and men and women relationships, and...all that sort of stuff, that comes from these stories. But they're just stories, I can't...expect reality to be like that."

Takeru sighed. "Oh, I don't think that's fair. At the very least you should...hope that reality is that...pure and idealized, even if it's not always. You should strive for things like that."

"Look, if you...you and the girls, everyone's enjoying themselves, everyone's comfortable with it, don't let me get in the way of that," Hikari insisted. "I have no right to do that. I'm just...I can only speak for myself."

"Too late for that," Takeru said with a bit of a laugh. "You've forced me to think about the morality of my actions, no going back." He swallowed down hard. "When I started The Angels two years ago, it was...I mean, I found these girls who had been through some pretty bad stuff in their life, and I offered them something so much better than anything they had ever known. First one I recruited, she was just...she couldn't believe her good fortune. Was so thrilled. Oh, thank you, sir, I promise to give my greatest effort in this task as long as you would ask of me, and you can have me any time you want!" He gave his head a little tilt. "Well, I'm not gonna turn that offer down. And after that, it sort of...morphed into an implied part of the job, I didn't ever think about it much beyond just having sex." He gritted his teeth a bit as he thought. "Maybe it's time I do something else." He looked back at her. "I didn't know you were so...uncomfortable with it, I'm sorry I made you feel like you had to force yourself through it those times. Don't worry, you won't hear me ask again, I promise you that, I can...I can respect your position."

"Hey, I...not like I said anything those first few times," Hikari said.

"Something more meaningful might be good for me." Takeru stood up. "Sorry it took me so long to piece all this together and talk to you about it, I...it's embarrassing for me, really." He scowled. "I'm usually pretty in control of my emotions, I don't like blowing up like that."

"I shouldn't have tried...lecturing like that," Hikari insisted. "I've never done it before."

"Well, you're really not bad at it," Takeru said with a smirk. "For your first time it was quite...resonating." He reached his hand down towards her. "So, we happy?"

"I'm happy, sir," she replied, reaching out and taking his hand.

"You know, it was very hard for me to enjoy anything these last two weeks," Takeru admitted. "And it wasn't just that I was running horribly, it was...our last interaction really ate at me. You've got...some kind of power over me. I might own you, but...you've left a real impression on me."

"So seven tomorrow morning?" Hikari asked, crossing her legs in front of her on the bed, starting to brighten up.

"We'll be playing a new game tomorrow, it's pretty different from anything you've seen so far, I can teach you tonight," Takeru offered.

Hikari, grinning again, clapped her hands together in her lap. "Yes please, sir."

"Hey, you know, the sir thing is kinda getting old," Takeru said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I don't know, even sir makes me sound too old, I don't wanna be old yet."

"What would you like me to call you?" Hikari asked, uncurling her legs and letting them dangle over the side of the bed.

"I have a name," Takeru said. "That's worked pretty well for me for twenty years, can't go wrong with that."

"Alright, TK," Hikari said, a bit of a devilish smirk as she used his shortened nickname.

"Very good," Takeru commended her, turning towards the doorway. "I like it. Very good." He began heading towards the doorway. "I'll order some food, come down a little later and I'll show you Deuce Seven Lowball."

Hikari nodded, then squinted for a moment. "Say, Takeru?"

Takeru stopped midstep, turning back to her.

"You've told me two different things now, I...which one is it?" She tapped her feet against the carpet. "Why'd you do it? Why'd you put up all that money for me and my brother? First you said it's because you didn't like seeing me be misused, then you said it was just because you wanted to get in a good one on Hido...what is it?"

Takeru sighed, turning back to square up with her. "You know what it really was, it was...neither of those, actually." He puffed out his cheeks for a second. "I just remember very vividly, that night, seeing you for the first time. You were...dirty and discolored, you looked like you were in constant pain, and...the misery I could see in your every movement and expression, it was so...stark to me."

"Sounds about right," Hikari granted, recalling that particular evening.

"I've been around unfortunate people plenty in my life. Many aren't very happy. But you...you were something different, so different I couldn't help but take notice." He stared her down. "I looked at you, and I saw...saddest, most hopeless person I had ever seen in my life."

Hikari nodded, hanging onto his every word, eager to see where he went with this.

"And what it was, really...you know, I have to admit one thing. My family's business, my father's business...the casino that I'll inheirit one day in all likelyhood, we deal in false hope." He shrugged. "I don't feel bad about it, we don't force anyone to do anything, everyone knows the risks when they enter the front doors of The Mecca. But we sell false hope. We tell them, you MIGHT win thousands or millions of dollars. Today MIGHT be your lucky today. Hit the button a few times and a fortune MIGHT come out at the bottom. And that's all true, but...everything is working against the players. A vast majority of people who pass through The Mecca leave with less money than when they entered. And we know this. It's how we remain open, of course. We tell our players about the best-case scenario, when we know how rarely it plays out. People who want to get rich fast, people who need a quick influx of money, desperate people with nowhere else to turn...they come to us, tempted by the promise of a massive return on investment that rarely comes. False hope."

Hikari sat in silence, waiting for his final word.

"I wanted to give some real hope to someone for once," Takeru explained. "I saw you kneeling in front of me, so obviously suffering, and I thought...what if I gave some real hope to the hopeless, for once in my life? I wanted to know what it would feel like. I wanted to see if I would like it."

"Did you?" Hikari asked, in a very soft and understated voice.

"That depends," Takeru said with a smile. "Are you still here with me now?" With that, he backed out of the room, closing the door behind him. 


	19. Doubling Up

Chapter 19: Doubling Up

"I have a real soft spot for lowball games."

Ken sat in the large, cushioned chair, elbows resting on the armrests, fingers steepled in front of his face, giving a small smile.

"My father, he's not a professional poker player, but he's played for fun for most of his life. He plays a home game with some friends a few times a month, they've been playing since before I was born." Ken reached down to tug at his collar a bit. "And their favorite game to play was actually Deuce Seven Lowball, they played it more than any other game. So that was my first exposure to poker, so...to me, it really doesn't seem all that weird to be drawing to the worst hand. I didn't even know about high hand games at first."

"At academy, there really weren't many opportunities to play Deuce Seven Lowball. There was some Razz, but the only consistent Deuce Seven was a game that the teachers played. So obviously, I'm going to hone my craft at Holdem and Omaha, since that's what's out there, but...there's always been a place in my heart for good old Deuce Seven. I try to stay sharp at it, I always look for opportunities to play it. Fortunately, I have a group of friends who are at least willing to give it a spin every now and then." Ken gently gestured around with his hands to accentuate his words.

"Deuce Seven in particular is a very pure expression of poker, because...it's all about reading your opponents based off physical and verbal tells. That's all you can get on the other players. There's a lot of opportunities to bluff as well, so there's a lot of that. There's so much to Deuce Seven. Obviously, it's popularity has really gone down over the last...fifty years, but...I'm glad it's still at the world series. It's the only draw game still at the world series, and I hope it sticks around as long as the world series does."

OOO

"Fun fact, Robert. Back when the world series was first created, Deuce Seven Lowball was almost the game chosen to be played at the Main Event. It came down to that or Holdem, Holdem won out, but it was NOT an easy decision. That's how big this game used to be."

Inside the small auditorium, the rows of bleacher seating were filling out. In the middle of the stage area was a single poker table, eight chairs around the outside. Two dozen people were milling around the table, conversing with each other.

"It may have lost it's spot atop the world of poker, but the game has maintained enough of a base to keep a presence at the world series. This year's slate of events included two Single Draw events and two Triple Draw events. This is the Ten Thousand Deuce Seven Lowball No Limit Single Draw event, and we're down to our final table. Seven players enter, one walks away with a shiny new bracelet and just shy of half a million dollars!"

Slowly, the players began to seat themselves around the table, being directed to specific chairs by staff members.

"This event is considered to be the world championship of Deuce Seven, there aren't a ton of big official tournaments left in the world that play it. The ten thousand dollar buyin makes it the closest thing to a Deuce Seven high roller event that we've got. Two hundred entrants started early this morning, and we've whittled it down to seven. Next out gets sixty-five grand, and payouts climb from there."

"Of significance at this final table is the makeup of the players. Typically, Deuce Seven final tables are made up of older players, guy who were around for the game's more popular days. That's mostly the case here, but this year we've got not one, but two, twenty-year-olds. Ken Ichijouji and Takeru Ishida have cut their way through the field and still have chips, Ken is actually our chip leader, he was the one in the interview you all saw just now."

"These kids just don't want us senior citizens to have anything, Robert! They've taken everything from us!"

"Ken and Takeru are actually childhood friends, they've both had successful world series runs so far, Takeru in particular has shined. You know they're loving this, getting to play each other at a final table. We've actually got Erin Parker about to get a quick chat in with the two before play kicks off, we'll put the feed on her."

The woman who had become such a familiar face at the world series stood next to Ken, microphone in her hand.

"Alright, I'm here with chip leader Ken Ichijouji and two-time bracelet winner Takeru Ishida." She turned to Ken. "Ken, this is your second final table this world series, how are you feeling going into this one?"

"Well, I can't feel much better, I've...I've got a lot of chips," Ken replied, sounding a little flummoxed by how to answer such a question. "To me this is just a dream, I...I almost never get to play Deuce Seven, and here's this event that attracts all the big time players of it all around the world, it's great for me. I wish we had this event every month, I'd show up for every one."

Erin switched her focus over to Takeru. "Takeru, another final table for you, another big cash, what's it like playing your friend for the chance at a bracelet?"

"Hey, I'm used to it," Takeru replied. "I've been playing poker with Ken for over a decade, this is just...business as usual. We want to play well, we want to beat each other, and as soon as one of us goes out, our number one priority becomes cheering for the one that's left."

"So no softplaying from you two?" Erin asked.

"Uh...no." Takeru turned back towards the table.

"I haven't softplayed against TK once in over twelve years of playing poker with him, why would I start now?" Ken nodded. "Good talk."

"Two good friends, both of them hungry for half a million dollars, and a bracelet."

OOO

"Yeah, my dad loves Deuce Seven Lowball." Ken had his head turned to the right, looking at the player one seat to his right. "He learned it from his father, passed it on to me." He laughed. "I think if I actually won this event, that would mean more to my father than if I won the main event."

"Ken engaging his foes in light conversation before he tries to take their chips. Welcome to everyone who has just tuned in to watch the final table, before we begin play tonight let's run over the rules of Deuce Seven Lowball Single Draw."

"It begins just like Holdem. One player gets the button, the players to the left post the small and big blinds. To begin play, each player gets dealt five cards face down. Each player looks at their cards, and starting with the player to the left of the big blind, decide to fold, call, or raise. After the round of betting is over, each player can choose to discard cards from their hand and get new ones from the dealer. You can choose to stand pat and draw none, you can choose to discard all five and get a fresh hand, or anything in the middle. Then, another round of betting, followed by showdown. This is lowball, so the worst hand wins the pot, but unlike Razz and most other Lowball games, straights and flushes count as high hands, and aces count as high cards. Because of this, the best possible hand is two three four five seven, with at least one card being of a different suit than the others."

The dealer began the extended process of firing out cards to each player, each player getting one at a time.

"We have a total of four million chips in play. Ken stands atop the list, he's got about one million one hundred thousand, but really, every player here is in decent shape to potentially end up the champion. Fedor Holt is the short stack with just under three hundred thousand in chips. The big blind is at ten thousand, antes are at two thousand, so plenty of chances for everyone to make a run."

Ken slowly lifted his cards up, bending them a bit so he could view the values of the cards he had been dealt.

"Ken is first to act, he's got...nine three two two ace."

"Usually, in Deuce Seven Lowball Single Draw, you want to start with a hand that requires either no discards or one discard. Ken has an ace, the worst card in the deck in this game, and he has the pair of deuces, so if he played this one he'd have to discard two."

Ken dropped the five cards over in front of the dealer.

"And Ken will not try it. He could have maybe taken a draw with his monster stack of chips, but he doesn't want to try and draw two good cards."

Michael Vrabel and Vincent Reeves folded their handful of cards over to the dealer as well.

"Both Vrabel and Reeves had two paint cards, which is pretty much a death sentence for a hand in this game. Now we've got Lyle Odom, considering his hand."

Odom fanned through five cards. Nine, seven, four, two, seven.

"Well, Odom has picked up a pair of sevens, but he's got some very nice cards beyond that. He can discard his seven and draw to a nine low, which would be a good hand."

Odom dropped off three silver and gold chips along with three purple ones.

"Odom is gonna raise it to thirty-three thousand, a little more than three times the big blind, which I like. He'd be fine with everyone else folding and picking up the pot now."

Fedor Holt folded next, putting the action on Takeru, who began to thumb through his cards.

"Takeru in the small blind, he'll take a look at...eight, ace, five, three, two, that's a very nice hand potentially. He's got an ace low right now, and he's got phenomenal cards underneath that ace, so he can get rid of it and draw to an eight low."

Takeru took back his blind chips, putting out three silver and golds next to three purples.

"Takeru calls the raise, and he'll be a slight favorite with a better draw. Odom is going to draw to a nine low, Takeru is hoping to hit an eight low."

With the big blind folding, Takeru took one of his cards and tossed it over to the dealer.

"Takeru acts first, and he does indeed discard his ace. Odom gets rid of one of his sevens, and now we'll see who draws better."

Takeru received a new card from the dealer, quickly bending down to take a look. A six.

"There you go! Takeru hits his card, he's now got a five card hand of eight six five three two, an eight low, and Odom can not win this hand!"

Takeru cut out a quarter stack of silver and gold, tossing them forward.

"And Takeru will bet fifty thousand into a pot of ninety thousand. Best thing for Odom here would be to catch a brick so he can fold."

With the bet out, Odom took a glance at the card he had just received from the dealer to complete his hand. Eight.

"That's bad news for Odom. He's made a nine low, which is probably gonna be good enough to warrant a call, but it's not enough to beat Takeru."

"Huh." Odom grabbed five multi-colored chips, setting the small tower down on the table in front of him. "Tough one."

"Odom smells danger. His nine low is good, but it's a rough nine low, since he has an eight and a seven. If Takeru also has a nine low, it would almost certainly be a better one, and it might be stretching it a bit for Takeru to be betting a ten low. This is borderline."

"Tough to...play this hand, hit my draw, and then not play it." Odom swallowed down hard. He shoved the tower forward. "I've got a rough nine low."

"Eight low," Takeru said, turning his five cards over.

"Eight low is good," Odom said, turning his hand over.

"And Takeru will collect that pot, nice start to the final table for him! He's now got nearly eight hundred thousand chips, don't count him out just yet!"

OOO

"One more wrong decision for the billionth time." Slowly, Vincent Reeves stood up from his seat, watching the last of his chips get collected up by Fedor Holt. "Was fun playing, everyone."

"That'll do it for Vincent Reeves, he exits in seventh place. Reeves won this event six years ago and is a mainstay in the Deuce Seven events, it's another nice finish for him, but he'll regret his decision to not draw a card on that last hand. His loss is Holt's gain, Fedor is making waves after starting out as the short stack!"

"That one hurts," Ken said, watching Vincent walk off before turning back to the table.

"Six remain, another hand in the air. Ken remains the big stack, he's been pretty passive so far today, and right now Takeru is trailing the pack, he's down to four hundred thousand."

"Blinds up to six and twelve thousand," the dealer announced as the cards were tossed out to each player in turn.

"And everyone at the table just got a little shorter on chips with that announcement. Vrabel first to act here."

Vrabel looked down at his cards, immediately folding on the sight of two aces. Odom similarly mucked a hand that included three eights.

"Feder Holt, he's got...queen eight five four two, very playable cards, he's been dealt a queen low and he can draw to an eight low. Things keep getting better for Fedor."

Fedor tossed out three silver and gold chips, raising the action to thirty grand.

"Makes it thirty grand, action to Takeru on the button."

Takeru went through his holdings, slowly, looking at each card one by one.

"Looks like Takeru has been dealt a jack low, jack nine six four three. Jack lows are tough in this game, they're basically right on the line. If you get a queen low you definitely ditch the queen, a ten low is most likely good enough on it's own, but a jack low is in that gray area. But Takeru does have position, which will be valuable for the card draw."

"Call." Takeru put out three chips to represent a call of Holt's raise.

"The blinds quickly fold, and now we draw. Holt will certainly toss his queen and look for a good card to replace it, he does. Now what does Takeru do?"

Takeru thought for several seconds, watching Holt's singular card be placed in the muck, before tapping his hand on the table surface.

"And Takeru chooses to stand pat. It's a purely mathematical decision for Takeru, he knows that a jack low is a slight favorite over a hand that is drawing one card. And now, Holt will get one card."

The dealer sent Holt a card face down, letting him slowly look down at it.

"Holt catches a five, that's no good for him! He gets a low card, but he's paired up, and pairs are death in this game."

Holt looked over at Takeru for a moment after seeing his hand fail to improve, then down to his chips.

"So what does Fedor do now? He can't win at showdown, that's obvious, so he has to bluff at it to win. Will he pull the trigger, and will Takeru make a tough call with a jack low if he does?"

Slowly, Fedor grabbed a quarter stack of silver and gold, along with a full stack of purples, pushing them out.

"There it is! Fedor Holt bluffs at it with seventy thousand in chips, and now Takeru has a real decision to make here!"

Takeru, facing the seventy grand wager, crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back, staring over at Fedor.

"It's a pretty large bet, just a little less than the full size of the pot, and Takeru would slip further down the chip list if he calls and is wrong! Tough to commit so much of your stack with a jack low."

Takeru blinked every few seconds, otherwise not moving at all as he looked at his opponent, who was similarly motionless as seconds ticked away.

"Well, Takeru knows the math. He knows his hand is the best hand about fifty-four percent of the time given that Holt drew one card. He knows he has to bet seventy thousand to win one hundred and sixty thousand. The math says call, but he's looking for something more than math now. He's trying to pick up some kind of read on Fedor before he decides what to do. This is what poker is all about, at the end of the day."

"Takeru was planning to close his eyes and call, I think, that's why he stood pat with his jack low, but I think he was hoping for a bet around fifty thousand instead of seventy. That twenty thousand might not seem like much, but it does polarize Fedor's range a bit."

"Well." Takeru leaned forward again. "I was planning to call here, so...I call."

"You win," Holt said, shoulders slumping a bit as he reached forward to his cards. "Pair of fives."

Takeru nodded, exposing his cards.

"And Takeru makes the right decision, he's no longer the short stack! Important pot for Ishida!"

OOO

"I'm gonna raise it." Ken put out a platinum chip.

Takeru looked over at the chip from the seat on the other side of the dealer from Ken, thinking as the remaining players in the hand quickly folded.

"And Ken springs forward with a raise to one hundred thousand, should get rid of everyone except possibly Takeru! Ken has been dealt an eight low, he holds eight six five four two, and he's not gonna slowplay it, he's gonna hope to isolate one opponent. Takeru Ishida may well end up being that opponent, he's holding a ten eight seven three two for a ten low. If he does decide to draw against Ken, he'll be in rough shape."

Takeru blinked a few times, looking down at his cards again. "I'm all-in," he said quietly, waving his hand forward towards the pot.

"Call," Ken immediately countered, Takeru wincing at the speed of the announcement.

"That good, huh?" Takeru said, rubbing his hands together slowly as he pondered.

"Takeru HAS to draw two cards and try to make a seven low to win this hand. If he chooses to ditch the ten, he can only make an eight low. Even if he makes his eight low, Ken's next highest card is a six, and Takeru has a seven, so in that scenario Ken would still win. But it'll be very hard for Takeru to know he has to draw two, and he's unlikely to hit two good cards if he does, so it's just a bad place to be."

"Okay." Takeru grabbed his ten and gave it to the dealer. Ken needed only half a second to pat his palm against the table.

"I'm drawing to an eight low," Takeru said as he received a card from the dealer.

"Which one?" Ken asked, looking down at his cards again.

"Eight seven low," Takeru answered, not yet checking his new card.

"Sorry buddy, you're drawing dead." Ken showed his five cards face up on the table, displaying a made eight six low that was a mortal lock to win.

"Ah, I don't really like the way I played this hand," Takeru said, tossing his new card up, knowing it was irrelevant, showing a queen. "Wouldn't have mattered anyway."

"Hey man, you're back in the winner's circle." Ken stood up and stepped back from the table a bit, going over and extending his hand out to Takeru.

Takeru looked at Ken's hand like it was diseased, standing up from his seat. "Hell no, I'm not shaking your hand!" He violently pointed over at his chipstack, still sitting in front of his seat. "Take my chips and shut up!"

Immediately, his violent tone shifted as he smiled, then stepped forward and gave Ken a large hug.

"Alright, finish it man, finish it off, you got this," Takeru said into Ken's ear before pulling away.

"And Takeru just fell victim to some friend-on-friend violence, Ken knocks him out in fifth place. He will earn one hundred and twenty-two thousand four hundred dollars for his efforts, which moves him past one million dollars in lifetime live poker tournament earnings. Gotta feel pretty good. Looks like he's getting pulled aside by Erin Parker now, let's cut the feed over to that."

As was expected, Takeru couldn't get three steps away from the table without being confronted by an attractive middle-aged woman with a microphone, tailed by a camera crew.

"Alright, Takeru Ishida out in fifth place at the Deuce Seven Lowball Single Draw event," Erin began. "Takeru, this event is considered an annual showcase of the best Deuce Seven Lowball players in the world, and the winner is considered to be the Deuce Seven champion for that year. Most of these players have been playing this game since before you were born, yet you were able to get all the way to the final five, how'd you do it?"

"Well, my mentor liked to play dozens of different poker variants, so when I was learning with him, we played pretty much everything," Takeru said. "Obviously there was an understanding that Holdem was far and away the most popular game, but we wanted to know everything, so we got experience at pretty much everything."

"Talk me through that last hand there, must be sort of tough to get eliminated by your friend." Erin put the microphone back up to Takeru's face.

"Once Ken snap called me, I knew I was in trouble," Takeru said. "But he had position on me, so for all I knew he had something like queen six four three two and was planning on discarding the queen, I would have been in decent shape if that's what he had, so I drew one. In hindsight, I should have just flatted his raise, and then folded after I caught a brick. Ken caught a fantastic hand, very unlikely I'd be able to beat it even if I knew I had to draw two, sometimes nothing you can do. Jamming was probably not the right move there, but...I had a good hand. And really, I'm used to it, I've taken thousands of pots off of Ken and he's taken thousands off of me, playing poker with my friends is something that I have a ton of experience with."

"I can't help but notice that Hikari, your apparent good luck charm, is back watching you play after about two weeks of absence, what happened there?"

"Oh, I'm not going to get into the details, but...there was a personal issue, we resolved it, and...she's back helping me win, that's all there is to it." He shrugged.

"Good run, Mister Ishida, see out back out there tomorrow." Takeru walked off as Erin brought the quick interview to a close. He jumped the railing and immediately found Hikari, giving her a large hug.

"Fun fact, if you combined Takeru's age with Ken's age, that'd still be twelve less than the age of the next-youngest player who made this final table. One is out in fifth, the other remains atop the chip count!"

OOO

~Takeru~

The entire auditorium was packed now, people crammed into the bleacher-style seats, focus on the sparsely-populated poker table in the middle of the stage. Two players, one on each side of the oval surface. One dealer, holding a deck of cards. Bricks of cash totalling nearly half a million dollars and a bracelet in the middle. Even in a somewhat obscure game, the prospect of another bracelet being divvied out was more than enough to draw attention from the audience.

And it had even provoked Aoto Ichijouji, tech millionaire, to come in and watch his son try to put the finishing touches on a phenomenal run.

"I always told him, one day, he was gonna win this event," Aoto said in a hushed tone, crammed into the seat next to Takeru. "I told him he had a great feel for this game. But I didn't think he'd do it when he was twenty!"

"Big moment for you, huh?" Takeru whispered, watching the dealer whisk out another hand.

"Oh yeah," Aoto said, nodding. "I...I'm always too busy during this time of the year to play in these events myself, and...I'm not really on this level, I don't think, but...when I heard he had made the final table, I dropped everything and flew out here."

"Good call," Takeru said.

Ken reached out and took back a small stack of silver and gold chips, replacing it with a platinum one.

"Heads up Deuce Seven is bizarre," Miyako said softly from a few seats to the right of Takeru, leaning forward, nervously fidgeting as she watched Michael Vrabel take back his blinds as well before putting out a platinum disk to match Ken's.

"Yeah, it's tough to know how to play your hand," Sammy agreed, watching Vrabel discard one card, followed by Ken making the same singular discard. "Ken's eating this guy for breakfast right now though, he's got this." Ken's rows of chips were indeed significantly larger than Vrabel's, noticeable even from a distance away.

"Come on man, it's no limit," Yuma protested. "Don't say things like that, you know how this game can go."

Vrabel silently put out a platinum chip next to six silver and gold chips.

"Raise to one hundred and sixty thousand," the dealer said softly, counting out Vrabel's bet.

Ken reached up to rub his nose, exhaling a bit, staring down Vrabel across the table.

"If Ken calls and wins, Vrabel only has...nine hundred thousand behind," Miyako whispered, eyes narrowing on the chip sprawl in front of Vrabel. "It's so close."

"I've got butterflies in my stomach, and I'm fifteen feet away from the table." Takeru leaned in to watch Ken ponder his options, seeing the conflict in his facial expression and mannerisms.

"How do you think I feel?" Aoto asked. "What, he's got some kind of...rough queen low, maybe?"

"Why am I even thinking about this?" Ken muttered. "How much in the pot?"

The dealer quickly went through the chips that had already been put in.

"Three hundred seventy thousand."

Ken nodded, swallowing down hard. "Okay. I call."

"You win," Vrabel said immediately, sounding a bit crestfallen.

"Don't be so sure," Ken said with a bit of a laugh. "If you've got a king low you're good."

"Pair of tens." Vrabel flipped over his five cards. Ten, ten, six, four, two.

Ken tabled his hand, showing a jack, five, four, four, and two.

"Woooooow," Takeru said, joining his entire section in a round of applause as Ken received the pot. "Wow! What a read!"

"Did he seriously call with a pair?" Aoto muttered, resting his hands back in his lap. "Oh my, wow!"

"Blinds up to twenty and forty thousand," the dealer said as she gathered the deck back up, placing the fifty-two cards inside a slot that opened up from the table surface, taking a fresh deck from the machine.

"Vrabel's got...twenty-four bigs left, we're in range," Yuma whispered. "The shove might be coming." The cards were quickly dealt out to the two players. "What kind of a read must Ken have to make that call?"

"It's a little more reasonable in heads up, but...wow," Sammy replied.

Vrabel took one look at his five cards and immediately folded, ending the hand before it could begin, sending Ken an additional twenty thousand.

"So, when Ken started lapping the field at academy, what did you have in mind for him?" Akira asked, leaning in closer to the older man. "Was professional poker player at the top of the list?"

Aoto gave a small laugh. "Well, I...look, we have all the money in the world, so I just told him...whatever you want to do with your life, don't think about the money. Just do something that contributes to the world in a positive way, and do something you enjoy." He shrugged. "I don't think he listened to those first two things, but...I think he enjoys this."

"If he doesn't, I'm sure he would have realized it by now," Takeru commented.

Ken, on looking at his newly dealt hand, took a platinum chip and flipped it forward.

"I certainly can't say anything to him now, if he wins this I can't ever tell him to do something else," Aoto continued. "And of course, the company is all his to inherit if he wants it when the time comes, I know he's got the mind for it."

"I'm all-in," Vrabel announced.

"Call," Ken snapped immediately, snatching up a handful of platinum chips and pushing them forward into the pot.

The entire room started to buzz, everyone standing up. The group of Ken's friends, Aoto included, pressed up against the railing surrounding the table, watching intently.

Vrabel discarded one card, tossing it to the dealer. Ken tapped the table with his palm.

"I'm drawing to a nine low," Vrabel said, standing up and watching the dealer throw one card over towards him.

"You're drawing live," Ken replied, tabling his hand. Ten, eight, five, three, two.

"That's a nice deal," Vrabel said, leaning over to see what he was up against. "Catching a lot of those."

"That's how I'm here." Ken stood up, putting his hands up on top of his head, clearly nervous as he watched Vrabel turn over his four cards. Nine, six, five, three. "Okay, so...you need...eight, seven, four, or two." He took in a deep breath.

"Okay, let's find out." Vrabel bent down, slowly peeling the card up, using his thumbs to obscure the face, dramatically slowing down the reveal.

"Ahh," he groaned as his thumb pulled away, immediately turning over a jack. Ken exhaled sharply, wiping his hand over his mouth.

Within seconds, Ken's entire cheering section vaulted the railing. Ken barely had time to give his vanquished opponent a handshake and a quick word before Daryl had wrapped his arms around his shoulders and yanked him sharply into the mob.

"O-OH MY GOD!" Ken yelled out, being jerked over towards the center of the table, towards the stacks of cash and the bracelet. He reached forward with both hands, one grabbing one of the bricks of money and the other snatching the bracelet. Daryl released him, letting him thrust both his hands up in the air, holding the two portions of his prize up. "OH MY GOD!"

"Oh, don't even act like you give a shit about that money," Aoto said, embracing his son and lifting him up a bit in the air. "You know it's all about that bracelet!"

"Oh MAN!" Ken yelped again, leaping up into the air as soon as he had been released. "Nah, I care about the money!" Ken turned to his father. "Course I care, it's money that I made!"

"Ken Ichijouji, world series bracelet winner, that's gonna be BIG for me when I'm comparing trophy boyfriends with my friends!" Miyako said.

Takeru gave Ken several firm slaps on the back. "Alright man, you win one more bracelet and I'll have to start taking you seriously again." Takeru grabbed one of the bricks of money, tossing it up in the air a few times before setting it back down. "You're on your way!"

"Hey, just remember, I knocked you out, I was using your corpse as the mortar to build this," Ken said, finally getting himself outside the circle of friends and family, taking the few steps over to Erin Parker. "This bracelet was won over your dead body, buddy!"

Erin gave a few small laughs. "Alright, we have a Deuce Seven Lowball champion for this year, the youngest ever by nearly two decades, Ken, how does it feel?"

"Uh...good," Ken answered, forehead wrinkling at the inane question.

"Take me through that hand right before the end, where you called a bet with a pair of fours, what was your thought process there?"

Ken ran his hand through his hair. "You have to be willing to play unconventionally when you're heads up in this game, it's so easy for the other guy to be bluffing, because they could have absolutely anything and there's no way for me to know." He cleared his throat. "I didn't think he had a super strong hand or super strong draw because he didn't re-raise before the draw, so I thought he might be drawing to a jack low, maybe even a queen low, and I didn't think he'd be betting those even if he hit them. So he bets, he's polarized, and I don't think he's super strong so I'm thinking he's weak. As it turns out, he had a very strong draw, so I was wrong, I was just lucky he bricked it. But I was right that he was weak. Of course he could have been doing that with a pair of threes or twos, or maybe a king low, which would have hurt, but I took a shot."

"This is your second cash in a Deuce Seven tournament in this world series, out of only four total tournaments offered, do you think your victory here might inspire a boost in popularity in the game among younger players?"

"I hope!" Ken cocked an eyebrow. "That'd be awesome, sign me up for that." He slowly backed away from Erin.

"For at least the next year, he'll be called the Deuce Seven champion of the world. Ken Ichijouji, great story."

OOO

"Hey, look," Takeru said, holding the bottle of orange liquid out towards Hikari. "Take it slow, this stuff can have surprisingly strong effects on some people. If you start feeling sick, toss it, and if you start acting weird, I'm cutting you off."

"Well, obviously I have to do what you tell me to do," Hikari said, taking the bottle by the bottom. "Say the word and I won't have another drop."

"Oh my God, you're giving your slave an alcoholic beverage," Hido groaned, watching from over the backrest of the couch, chin buried into the cushion. "Just when I think you can't be any more of a sucker, this is unreal."

"There's a whole cooler full of them over there if you want one," Hikari said flatly, pointing over towards a table set up in the middle of the living room. Hido just rolled his eyes.

"Alright, just...take it slow," Takeru repeated. "That's about as light as it gets, but...alcohol can be quite a kick."

Hikari slowly put the mouth of the glass bottle up to her lips, lifting it up and taking in some of the orange liquid. Immediately, her face wrinkled up and she lowered it quickly.

"This tastes horrible," she said, mouth moving around awkwardly as she digested the drink.

"I know, it's the worst, right?" Ken walked by, holding a roughly identical bottle to the one Hikari had in her hand, chugging from it as he passed her by.

"It takes awhile to get used to the taste," Takeru explained. "At first, it's pretty bad, you gotta keep at it to develop the taste for it."

"Why would I bother going through that?" Hikari asked, looking at the bottle with a befuddled expression.

"Man, this girl is bright," Ken said, swinging back around towards the two. "I mean, you think I'm smart now, imagine how sharp I would be if I never started drinking."

"It's called giving yourself a handicap so it's fair for the rest of the world," Aoto joked, sitting on a large chair by the couch on the south side of the room. "You're smart enough as it is."

Ken gave a small laugh, then turned to Takeru. "So, you're back in the penthouse, huh?"

Takeru smiled. "You just won half a million and a bracelet and you're talking about what I did?" He lifted his bottle up towards Ken. "Come on man, world don't revolve around me, this is about you."

Ken shrugged. "Still, it's...it's a big cash for you. Seven figures now, puts you in a pretty exclusive club."

"There's a saying about blind squirrels finding a nut," Takeru said wryly. "We'll see."

Nevertheless, he gave Hikari a quick meaningful look as he spoke.

OOO

Takeru dropped eight purple chips across the yellow line on the table. Tom Bonomo immediately picked up his two cards and lightly flipped them over to the dealer.

"Sorry to ruin the suspense, but...I have nothing," Bonomo said with a bit of a smirk.

"Yeah, you did Tom, but you weren't the only one who had nothing. Both players had king high, we were headed for a chopped pot in all likelyhood, and Takeru bluffs him out."

The two players were seated on opposite sides of a shrunken poker table, a much smaller oval, with a dealer in the middle as always. The large room was filled with similarly small poker tables, each one populated with the same pair of players and a dealer, with bleacher seating encircling the room.

"Takeru's up to two hundred and seventy-six thousand in chips, Bonomo down to forty-four thousand, getting pretty short. Less than ten bigs for Tom, in fact, so we're close to push or fold mode. Takeru is on the verge of advancing to the sixth round in our Ten Thousand Heads Up No Limit Holdem Championship event."

The dealer tossed out two cards to each player, Takeru looking down at the eight of spades and the seven of hearts.

"And this event is a pretty big deal in the poker world, heads up skills are something that players love to show that they have. We started with three hundred and thirty entrants, each one buying in for ten grand, building a prize pool of nearly three million dollars."

Takeru grabbed nine purple chips and tossed them out past the yellow line.

"Takeru makes a min raise from the small blind, doubles the big blind to twelve thousand, pretty standard to how he's been playing for most of this match. It's an effective way to put constant pressure on your opponent, and it works great in heads up play."

Bonomo looked down at his two cards. King of clubs, queen of clubs.

"And Bonomo's got a suited royal couple in the hole, I think we're about to see a shove. Too much equity in a hand like this to fold, and if you just call and miss the flop it's really hard to know what to do."

Bonomo pursed his lips in thought as he looked down at his chips.

"This is the fifth round of the Heads Up Championship, each round sees about half the field get eliminated, so we started this round with forty-two participants, each of them guaranteed a payout of just short of fifteen grand. If Bonomo gets eliminated here, he'll take home a bit short of sixteen thousand. Next round will see twenty-one players remaining, each one assured of nearly twenty-seven thousand dollars."

"I'm all-in," Tom announced, pointing down at his chip stacks.

"And there he goes, he's shoving on Takeru with king queen suited! So now what does Takeru do?"

Takeru looked back down at his two cards.

"Well, he must know he's behind with eight high, surely Tom has something that's better as of right now. But there are definitely some hands that Tom could be doing this with that Takeru is getting the right price to call against, even if he's behind right now, and this is one of those hands. Takeru is getting about the right price to call and try to get lucky, but it's borderline, and I think either decision is defensible."

Takeru tossed his cards over to the muck, awarding the pot to Bonomo.

"Takeru will fold. No sense in giving Tom an easy double-up right now. So Herman, as we get another hand in the air, what characterizes a great heads up player that's different from a full ring player?"

"Well, in poker in general, aggression is rewarded with good results typically, and that's even moreso the case in heads up play. When you're playing heads up, pretty much any two cards are good enough to play, the only hands you want to fold immediately are hands like...nine two offsuit, six three offsuit, seven two offsuit, maybe a grand total of ten hands should be an instafold. And even with bad holdings, when you have just one opponent, it's just much more likely than you can find a way to win a hand just by being aggressive. Maybe you have nothing, but your opponent probably doesn't have too much either, so being aggressive really pays off in this game."

Tom put out three purple chips with after having a glance at the eight of clubs and ten of spades.

"Bonomo calls with ten eight offsuit. He's got a few more chips to work with now."

Takeru tapped the felt a few times after having a glance down at the four of diamonds and five of diamonds.

"Takeru checks with small suited connectors. Great hand to see a flop with, but not a hand you want to bloat the pot with. Takeru has two hundred and fifty-six behind, Bonomo sitting with fifty grand after taking a small pot on that last hand."

The flop was put out. Ten of diamonds, eight of diamonds, king of spades.

"And we have ourselves an action flop! Bonomo flops bottom two pair, he has tens and eights, and Takeru has a small flush draw! Biggest flop we've seen in this match so far, and it would make a lot of sense for all the money to go in right here!"

Takeru checked, tapping the felt a few times.

"Takeru is definitely checking to call or shove here. Bonomo should bet this, too much to protect against, and I predict Takeru is gonna go all-in and get called."

Bonomo grabbed two silver and gold chips from his stack, flipping them forward.

"Bonomo raises to twenty thousand, that is a VERY large bet given the size of the pot, he's definitely trying to induce Takeru to fold or shove, he doesn't really just want to get called and be faced with a potentially tough choice on the turn."

"Alright, let's go." Takeru stood up. "I'm all-in."

"I call." Bonomo grabbed his two cards and flipped them face up, slapping them down on the table. Takeru turned over his pair of small diamonds.

"And there it goes! Bonomo needs to dodge the nine diamonds still floating around, if he does he'll be back in the hunt with over one hundred thousand in chips. But if Takeru spikes a diamond, he'll be a large favorite to move to our round of twenty!"

"I guess I gotta live with getting it in as a two to one favorite," Bonomo said, getting to his feet. "Just...it doesn't feel good for me!"

"Bonomo is indeed a favorite here, but plenty of outs for Takeru. Turn card coming."

The dealer, burn card out to the side, put down a jack of diamonds.

"And there it is! Takeru makes his flush!"

Bonomo grimaced, bending his body down slightly before standing back up straight. "Not over yet!"

"Takeru makes a small flush, and now HE'S a heavy favorite, Bonomo needs to see a ten or an eight on this river, or he's out in the fifth round of this event!"

The river popped out of the deck, a nine of hearts.

"That won't do it for Tom! Takeru advances to the sixth round!"

Takeru stepped across the table and extended his hand out to Bonomo, who took it.

"I really shouldn't have done so much limping preflop," Tom said to Takeru. "I don't like how I played this round."

"You're a great player, man," Takeru said. "I knew I had to build a fast lead to get you, I came out of the gates fast, knew I had to do it."

"Great show by Takeru Ishida, he's locked up a payout of nearly twenty-seven grand, and he's got a shot at much more!"

Takeru made his way over to the edge of the room, towards the railing dividing the audience from the floor. His friends awaited him, Hikari at the front, giving him a quick high-five as he came over.

"Beautifully played," Ken said. "You're feeling it. You and Sammy both, you're both killing it."

Takeru turned around to look back at the floor, eyes immediately finding one of the active players, seeing his good friend engaged in a hand with a red-haired woman he didn't recognize.

"What's that, Sammy's got...a three-to-one chip lead?" Takeru asked, squinting over towards the action. "Oh man, what if we get matched up in the next round?"

"Takeru talking with his friends over by the railing, they're discussing Samuel Abaid, who's also putting together a very nice run here, he's poised to join Takeru in the next round. Alright, we're gonna cut the feed here, we'll return for round six!"

OOO

~Takeru~

The twenty-one remaining players gathered together in the middle of the large room, looking up at a large screen projected on the far wall. White and blank at the moment, it was soon to be populated with highly important information.

"Alright folks, Sarah Gilipe is going to be sitting out the sixth round, as she was the first player to win her match in the previous round. The remaining twenty players are about to receive their matchup. When you get your table number, please head over to the table, and we'll get the action going!" A suited man with a small microphone patrolled around the room, informing the players.

The screen was quickly filled with names and profile pictures of the twenty players active in this round. Takeru's eyes quickly found his name and picture beside table four.

Alongside was a familiar face, but it wasn't his longtime childhood friend.

Koushiro Izumi's headshot and name occupied the space next to Takeru. Immediately, Takeru's eyes dropped down, scanning the room, finding the thin redhead among the crowd of players.

"Oh...fun," Takeru said, a thin smile on his face.


	20. Gin Card

Chapter 20: Gin Card

"H-how many events do you have left, realistically?" Takeru asked, pulling the chair out from the table and sitting down at it.

"I think like, eight after this one," Koushiro replied, similarly pulling up a chair at the other end of the table. "I'm not doing One Drop this year, so that's out, but I'll probably do everything else if I can."

"You're not doing One Drop?" Takeru said, sounding a bit disappointed. "I thought that'd be a great tournament for you."

Koushiro shrugged. "I thought about it, but...it's too much money, and I couldn't get any backers together." Koushiro shrugged his suit jacket off his shoulders, putting it on the back of the chair. "Maybe next year."

"And we're off! Round Six of the Heads Up Championship, we've got Koushiro "Prodigious" Izumi against Takeru Ishida. Each player starts with three hundred and twenty thousand in chips, blinds start at two point five and five thousand with a one thousand ante. Joseph, what do you think we can expect from this very interesting matchup?"

"Well, for Takeru, this is like stepping into the spider's nest. Not only is Koushiro one of the best players in the world at Holdem, he considers himself to be a heads up specialist. His style of play is perfect for heads up, so this is really his comfort zone. However, Koushiro is still a cash game player mainly, and this is a tournament format, so it's possible Takeru can turn some of Koushiro's aggression against him."

"So this event is probably your best chance, right?" Takeru said, watching the dealer come over. "Must be a little nervous."

"Hey, I made the bet with five-to-one odds, right?" Koushiro took a sip from a bottle of water to his side. "I thought to myself, I can make the bet every year for five years, and if I win it once and lose it four times, I broke even."

"They're talking about Koushiro's bracelet wager, he owes a total of one million dollars if he fails to win a bracelet, and will win five million dollars if he wins one."

"I think it's a way to keep him engaged in these tournaments, because...Koushiro's a guy who will win or lose a million dollars in a day playing poker online, so this is really small stakes for him. Even a tournament like this, he buys in for ten thousand dollars, that's really pocket change to this guy."

The dealer began to distribute cards out to each player.

"Koushiro starts with the button, so he'll be first to act before the flop, but second to act on all other streets. You know, it's not often Koushiro is the elder at the poker table, he's often looked at as the young gun, but he's actually got three years on Takeru, not a position he's often in."

Koushiro looked down at a six and a four, both diamonds.

"Six four suited for Koushiro, and he's reaching for chips."

Koushiro grabbed two purple and five black chips from his stacks, dropping them off into the pot.

"He's gonna call, put the action on Takeru. How do you think Takeru feels about this matchup?"

Takeru took a look down at the ace of spades and ten of diamonds.

"Well, how can you not be a little nervous? Obviously, Koushiro is something of a living legend in the world of poker, even if it mostly comes from online cash games, and odds are Koushiro was one of the players he idolized as he was developing his game at Academy. But Takeru's had such a good world series so far, I don't think he'll be too shaken up by this."

Takeru grabbed three silver and gold chips, flipping them forward.

"Whoa! Huge preflop raise from Takeru, he puts an additional thirty thousand into a pot of twelve thousand."

"Yeah, this kind of stuff happens more often preflop in heads up play, and Takeru wants to apply pressure with a hand this strong, but it's still not very conventional. Takeru deciding to mix up his play a bit against Koushiro."

Koushiro reached into the pot, putting three multicolored chips in.

"Koushiro isn't going to be scared away, he calls with his small suited one-gappers. And I understand Takeru's desire to play in a different manner against a guy who has an argument for being the best poker player in the world, but I think that was a little too big of a raise. He's got a good hand, but he's out of position, and ace ten offsuit can be a hard hand to play out of position."

The dealer put down a flop. Three of hearts, seven of diamonds, king of diamonds.

"Great flop for Koushiro, he's got a small flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. Takeru missed completely, although he currently has the best hand with ace high."

Takeru slowly began picking up chips from his stack.

"Takeru feels compelled to fire out a continuation bet here, sometimes he can just take the pot down, but I think Koushiro will hang around with his combo draw, whatever he bets."

Takeru put out five silver and gold chips.

"And that big raise he made preflop compounds on itself very quickly. Look at all the chips in this pot already!"

Koushiro grabbed a quintet of chips and fired them into the middle.

"Koushiro calls with his combo draw. He's actually a small favorite to win this hand even though he's behind right now. Any diamond, any five, any six, or any four on the turn would give him the lead. And a diamond or five would leave Takeru drawing stone dead."

The dealer put down the nine of hearts on the turn.

"Brick for both players, and if Takeru thinks Koushiro has a king, which is very believable, I think he's gonna have to just check and fold. Kind of put himself in a bad position."

Takeru checked, tapping the table a few times.

"And here's the problem with Takeru's big raise. Takeru checked in front, meaning Koushiro gets to act knowing that Takeru did not want to put another bet into the pot, so he can feel comfortable betting his draw as a semi-bluff, and Takeru has to fold the best hand a large percentage of the time."

Koushiro pushed seven silver and gold chips forward. Takeru, with a shrug and a crooked smile, tossed his cards over to the dealer. "Take it down."

"Koushiro takes the pot with six high! Good semi-bluff from the man they call Prodigious! Takeru lost about eighty-seven thousand chips there, a significant hit to his stack. So Joseph, do you consider Koushiro to be the best poker player in the world?"

"Well, I'm not sure I think he's the best, but I do think he's the most balanced player in the world, and balance is probably the most important thing for a poker player in this era, so that's an argument for him being the best, at the very least. I think there are probably some players who are more well-rounded, with elite results in tournaments and cash games, but it's at least an argument."

Takeru tossed five black chips and two purples out after checking his cards, queen eight of spades.

"Takeru limps in with a suited queen. And Koushiro looks down at...a pair of queens in the hole, queen of clubs and queen of hearts!"

"Raise it," Koushiro announced, putting out two silver and gold chips.

"Koushiro pumps it up, gonna cost Takeru an additional twenty grand to continue. Takeru's in awful shape, but his hand is probably good enough to see a flop."

Takeru made a matching wager, tossing out chips to equal the bet.

"And both players will see a flop. Joseph, what is balance for a poker player?"

"Well, in short, a balanced player is capable of doing anything with any hand at any time, which is hugely critical to be successful, and Koushiro really is the gold standard for balance."

The dealer dealt the flop. Nine of spades, ace of hearts, six of hearts.

"When you're balanced, you become very hard to read, and it becomes that much harder to play against you."

Koushiro checked, tapping the table. Takeru quickly checked behind.

"That's actually kind of a good flop for Takeru, in that he'll probably save money now. The ace has to scare Koushiro a bit, and there's nothing there for Takeru to think his hand is any good, so he might get to holster his stack and not lose any more."

The turn produced the four of spades.

"And...now Takeru has a flush draw, so that spices things up a bit."

Koushiro grabbed three silver and gold chips, putting them forward.

"Koushiro bets thirty grand. He now has to worry about two flush draws, and he's not putting Takeru on an ace here, so he's gotta fire out for value and protection."

Takeru made the call, pushing three chips out past the yellow line.

"River card...three of diamonds, not what Takeru was looking for. That card does complete a couple of straight draws, but is no good for Takeru's flush draw."

"Fifty thousand," Koushiro said softly, firing out five chips.

"Fifty thousand value bet from Koushiro, and...Takeru hasn't folded yet."

Takeru stared down at the community cards for several seconds, shuffling chips around, keeping his expression flat.

"Well, there's an ace on the board, and a handful of straight draws, so if Takeru shoves it's very possible that Koushiro would lay down his queens. Can he find the courage to jam here with queen high?"

Takeru grabbed his cards and tossed them to the dealer. "Can't empty the clip."

"Nope, he folds, Koushiro off to the races in this match so far."

"Just to give a quick example of what balance is, imagine a poker player who always bets three-quarters of the pot when he has pocket aces or pocket kings. Whatever's happened in front of him or what might happen behind him, he always bets or raises three-quarters of the pot. Now, it's not a huge deal if you're doing that, but that player is definitely being unbalanced, and that can hurt his game over time. Specifically, it means that when he DOESN'T do that very specific thing, every player at the table who's paying attention can then safely assume that he CAN'T have aces or kings. And that can be a problem."

Koushiro glanced at the eight of diamonds and ace of diamonds, reaching towards his chips. "Min raise." He reached forward and grabbed his blind chips and put in one silver and gold chip.

"That specific example isn't a huge hole in a player's game since you get aces and kings so rarely, but if you're a player who is always doing the same thing when you have...a set, or a straight draw, or a flush draw, or middle pair, you become much easier to read and much easier to exploit."

"I call." Takeru tossed out five purple chips after taking a look at the ace of clubs and eight of hearts.

"Looks like both players have ace eight. Koushiro is suited, so he's got a small leg up, but this is almost always going to be a chopped pot."

The flop came out, two of diamonds, queen of clubs, jack of hearts.

"Rainbow flop, neither player connects. Takeru can not win this hand, Koushiro needs running diamonds to win. Now, let's see who plays this the most aggressively, because aggression will likely win this pot."

Takeru put out one silver and gold chip next to five purples, betting fifteen thousand.

"From my lips to Takeru's ears, he bets with nothing. But Koushiro doesn't have to go away here, what's he got in mind?"

Koushiro slowly gathered up four silver and golds along with six purples, tossing out a raise to forty-six thousand.

"That would be an answer, Koushiro raises to forty-six grand with squat!"

Takeru thought for a moment, gave a quick nod, then tossed his cards over to the dealer.

"And Koushiro bluffs Takeru off what was almost certainly a chop! Takeru's bleeding chips, he's now lost a little more than half his stack in three hands!"

"Blinds up to three and six thousand," the dealer announced, looking back and forth between each player.

"But don't think it's over, if Takeru can win just one all-in at this point, it'll be back to even, that's the beauty of no limit! Dealer is scrambling the cards before she gets a new hand in the air."

"Anyway, to wrap up my point, that's the beauty of Koushiro's game. He's capable of five-betting preflop with a hand like eight six offsuit, he can limp with queens, he can limp-shove with king jack, and pretty much anything else you can think of. You can never assume you know what he might be holding based off of his actions in a hand, because he can play any hand in any way."

Takeru received two cards, taking a look at the king of clubs and eight of spades, before putting out three purple chips.

"Takeru limps in with king eight offsuit, and he needs to pick up a pot at some point here. Koushiro...has got four deuce offsuit, four of spades and two of hearts. Pretty raggy cards, but he can play it for free."

"Run it," Koushiro said, looking over at the dealer.

The flop produced the ace of hearts, two of diamonds, and king of diamonds. Koushiro immediately checked.

"Both players catch a piece, Koushiro catches the smallest piece possible with a pair of twos. Takeru hits a pair of kings."

Takeru checked as well, tapping the table.

"He checks behind. Both players are probably a little wary of that ace, they don't want to get raised and be forced to fold."

The turn card proved to be the five of spades.

"Koushiro now has a straight draw, a three gives him the wheel, a straight ace to five, but Takeru leads with his pair of kings."

Koushiro picked up two silver and gold chips, flicking them forward.

"Koushiro will bet, hopes the hand ends here, reasonable semi-bluff with a pair of twos and a gutshot. Takeru won't go anywhere."

Takeru called the bet, matching with two silver and gold discs.

"I think Koushiro's gonna shut down here if he doesn't improve on this river, and...queen of clubs, he does not. Takeru has the best hand with a pair of kings."

Koushiro rapped his knuckles on the table, and Takeru put out two silver and gold chips alongside five purples.

"Takeru bets out, and this is actually kind of interesting. Takeru has second pair with no kicker, so it's a very thin value bet. If Koushiro raises here, Takeru would have to strongly consider folding."

"But might Koushiro just call? He does have a bluff catcher with a pair of twos, and it's not that big a bet."

Koushiro, after considering for a moment, took his cards and gave them to the dealer, folding.

"And Takeru will pick up that pot. That bet could have gotten him in some trouble, but it ends up being harmless."

"Hey, I won one," Takeru said quietly, a wry smile on his face.

"If I'm gonna lose one, that's the pot I wanna lose," Koushiro said, watching the cards be fired out to each player.

"Koushiro still in great shape here, he's got a big chip lead. And he's gonna have a peek at...six three of spades."

"Twenty-four thousand," Koushiro said, grabbing two multicolored chips alongside four purples, pushing them in.

"And Koushiro is gonna put out a sizable bet here, he wants this hand to be over now with cards this weak. Takeru next to act, he's got...queen two, both hearts."

Slowly, Takeru gathered together five silver and gold chips along with four purples, pushing the large number of chips in.

"And Takeru's not going to oblige, he raises to sixty thousand! Nice read by Takeru."

Koushiro looked over at Takeru for a moment, then down to his chip stack.

"Koushiro can't just call here, his hand's not good enough. Gotta fold or click it back."

"I'm all-in," Koushiro said.

Takeru rolled his eyes, giving a bit of an annoyed look over towards the audience seating to his right, then gave his cards over to the dealer. "That'll work."

"Koushiro just stuck his neck out there with six three suited, and it worked! Nice read, got Takeru to throw away the best hand!"

OOO

"Alright, everyone, I'm here on the rail with a very special guest, Rento Izumi, the father of Koushiro Izumi," Erin Parker began, holding her microphone as always. "Mister Izumi, what's it like to watch your son out there?"

Rento was a tall, thin man, square glasses on his face. "Uh, you know, these last...nine years, it's been an incredible ride for me, and I'm just enjoying it. This is something that Koushiro has done all on his own, I had never played poker before he started playing it, I hadn't done anything to push him in the direction of playing poker. To tell the truth, when he approached me with the idea, I really didn't like it, I discouraged him if anything, I saw it as being a gateway to him possibly going off track in his life. But there's nothing to say at this point, he's become a revolutionary in his field, he's proven himself to be one of the greatest players in the world, and he's completely changed my life certainly. It's not what I had in mind for him, but at the end of the day, he will routinely win or lose more money in two minutes online than I would make over the course of a year, so what can I say to him?"

"So this poker thing, it's really all one hundred percent him?" Erin asked.

"Well, he often tells me that having a father who's a mathematician was very helpful in his conception of poker strategy, but beyond that I can't take credit for any of this." Rento nodded.

"What about his million dollar bracelet wager, how do you feel about that? It's certainly a bold move for someone with little tournament experience."

Rento laughed. "I...I've learned not to doubt my son. I doubted him when he asked for that first hundred dollars, I doubted him when he started playing no limit, I doubted him when he started buying into cash games for six figures, and at this point, I just think I've seen enough from him to know that he knows what he's doing. It's not what I would do, but Koushiro clearly thinks on a different level than most of the rest of us."

"Alright, back to the match," Erin said.

"Clearly, a very proud father. And he has reason to be proud right now, Koushiro holds four hundred and fifty-eight thousand chips, Takeru down to one hundred and eighty-two, so it's about a two-and-a-half to one chip advantage for Koushiro."

"Takeru's clearly a little flustered, not really sure how to deal with Koushiro in this match. We've seen him try raising on the button, we've seen him limping on the button, and nothing's working too well for him. He has managed to even out a little bit after an early bad start, but he's still deep in the hole."

Koushiro had a look down at the nine of spades and five of clubs. He put forth four purple chips, limping into the pot.

"Nine five offsuit for Koushiro, he's gonna limp in. What's Takeru got?"

Takeru peeled up the corners of the king of clubs and nine of clubs.

"Pretty nice hand for Takeru, suited king nine."

Takeru squinted over at Koushiro, then over to the chips already in the pot.

"And...I think Takeru's just a little unsure of what to do here. With a hand like this, he's tempted to raise, but he doesn't really want to get shoved on if he does, would put him in a really tough decision tree. And he's not hiding his confusion either."

"I check." Takeru motioned over to the dealer.

"And Takeru will take a free flop. Twenty thousand in the pot. What does Takeru have to do to turn this match around?"

The flop came out. Jack of diamonds, five of diamonds, ace of hearts.

"Well, odds are the opportunity will present itself if he just hangs in there. Koushiro, for all his brilliance, is a cash game player, so he's much more likely to give Takeru a chance to double up. And a double up at this stage would actually give Takeru the chip lead."

Takeru checked, tapping the table, allowing Koushiro to quickly check behind.

"Check check on the flop. Takeru has nothing, Koushiro has bottom pair, nothing too exciting here."

The dealer put down a nine of hearts on the turn.

"Okay, there's a fun card! Takeru now has a pair of nines, but Koushiro has two pair, nines and fives, could be trouble. And with two diamonds and two hearts out there, both players are going to want to protect against a flush, so we should see some money go in here!"

Takeru gathered up a silver and gold chip along with five purples, dropping them out past his cards.

"Takeru bets fifteen thousand. Koushiro checked in position on the flop, so Takeru has every reason to think his pair of nines is the best hand right now."

Koushiro stared over at Takeru's bet for a few seconds.

"Well, Koushiro's got two pair, but there are two possible flush draws out there now. If Koushiro thinks Takeru has a flush draw, he should raise. If he thinks Takeru has a hand like the hand that he has, he should just call."

Koushiro wordlessly put out a silver and gold chip, followed by five purples.

"He just calls. I think Takeru would have folded to a raise, so I think the call makes sense. Now, Koushiro is hoping that it looks like that HE has the flush draw so that Takeru can fire again if a brick hits the river."

The river card, the nine of diamonds, completed the board.

"Wow! What a card. The nine of diamonds gives Takeru trip nines, but it gives Koushiro a full house, nines full of fives!"

"That is a fascinating river card. Takeru's hand has improved significantly, but the river also completed a diamond flush, and a paired board can always mean someone has a full house. What happens now?"

Takeru put out four silver and gold chips, betting forty thousand.

"Takeru bets forty thousand. Very bad spot for Takeru, his hand is too strong to just check, but it's also not strong enough on this board to really beat any of Koushiro's value range. I think value betting trip nines in heads up is fair, but what's he going to do here after Koushiro puts out a raise?"

"I'm all-in," Koushiro said, waving his hand forward.

"Oooooh." Takeru grabbed the back of his head with his right hand, grimacing. "Ooooh, that's tough."

"Tough is right. If Koushiro is doing this for value, he'd definitely have either a flush or a full house, so Takeru can only beat a bluff."

"Ooooooh." Takeru blinked a few times.

"Against most players, this is a fold, but Koushiro is so capable of bluffing here, it's tough to throw away a hand as strong as trips. Koushiro could be turning a hand like ace five with the ace of diamonds into a bluff, or he could be turning missed hearts into a bluff, all of that has to be considered."

"I don't think I can fold." Takeru had a bit of a pained look on his face.

"If Takeru calls, his tournament is over and Koushiro will have advanced to the next round."

Takeru nodded a few times. "I call."

Koushiro immediately grabbed his cards, slapping them down on the table.

"Nines full?" Takeru said, turning over his hand as well. "Nines full is good."

"And Koushiro finishes this sixth round match in fairly quick fashion, he's moving on. Takeru is out in twentieth, takes home a prize of twenty-six thousand seven hundred and thirty dollars."

"It was an honor to eat your lead, good sir," Takeru said dryly, leaning back heavily in his chair.

Koushiro stood up, going around the table and extending his hand out to Takeru. "You were the one I was worried about," Koushiro said, taking Takeru's hand. "You were the one I didn't want to face."

"Why would you say that?" Takeru stood up. "I wish you had to be worried about me."

"You've just been doing so well this world series, how could I not be?"

Takeru shrugged. "Well, after this, I might just have to retire from poker," he said.

OOO

~Takeru~

"Against almost anyone else, I'd be rooting for you here," Takeru said, standing next to Koushiro as the redhead sat down at the miniature poker table. "But I can't do it."

"You gotta do what you gotta do," Koushiro replied, pulling his chair up.

"Hey, thanks," Sammy said dryly, putting his elbows up on the table.

"What?" Takeru put his arms out to his sides defensively. "I said I was rooting for you!"

"Yeah, you sound so enthusiastic about it too," Sammy countered, rolling his eyes. "Oh, I just HAVE to root for my childhood friend, how HORRIBLE a thing that is."

"Alright man," Takeru said, going over to Sammy. "I'd offer you some sage advice based off of my my match with him, but...I got nothing, so I won't try."

"Well, now I'm just brimming with confidence," Sammy said. "I could just spazz-shove every hand and hope I get lucky."

"Hey man," Koushiro said, observing the dealer coming over towards the table. "At the end of the day, we can't control the cards. You're gonna get your cards, I'll get my cards, and that's a good chunk of the battle right there. Nothing anyone can do about that."

"When you put it like that, I don't feel so bad," Sammy granted. "I know the stakes are certainly a lot higher for you than for me."

"Alright, see you guys when it's over." Takeru turned away and quickly dashed for the railing surrounding the room, vaulting it and joining his friends in the audience.

"Seems like I can't turn around these days without seeing one of my friends playing for a bracelet," Daisy said under her breath, going up to the rail and putting her hands on it, ready for the match to begin, eyes trained on the table.

"Both players start with five million one hundred and twenty thousand chips," the dealer said, looking back and forth between the two players. "Blinds start at thirty and sixty thousand, with a five thousand chip ante."

"Would you all mind if I observed from here?"

Takeru turned around, seeing everyone in the vicinity had similarly turned their heads to find a particularly striking brunette standing on the stairs between seats.

"As long as you don't mind that we won't be rooting for the same guy," Takeru said, gesturing Mimi over towards an empty seat up by the rail. He took a brief moment to appreciate the casual outfit of a colorful tanktop and knee-length skirt, still doing wonders to put the best assets of the attractive woman on display despite being such a simple getup.

"I'll get over it," Mimi replied, going down by the rail, platform sandals clipping away at the floor before she found her seat.

"So, you gotta be feeling pretty good right now, huh?" Takeru began as the dealer pushed out the initial hand to the players.

"Depends on how this goes," Mimi replied. "You think you're nervous for your friend, this match is literally worth more than six point three million dollars to Koushiro. And by extension, to me."

Koushiro reached out and took his small blind back into his stack, tossing out two platinum chips into the pot. A raise to two hundred thousand.

"There are still more bracelets to win after this event," Daisy said, glancing over at Mimi out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah, but I always thought this was his best shot," Mimi replied. "And to get this close without taking it down would hurt."

Sammy put out two platinum chips as well, taking back his big blind.

"It still almost brings a tear to my eye," Ken murmured. "I mean, don't get me wrong, Sammy has my full backing, but...this guy starts out life in the suburbs of Leavensworth, paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle, and now he's risking over a million dollars on a longshot bet, and it doesn't even mean that much to him."

The flop came out. Four of clubs, nine of clubs, king of hearts.

"Sometimes, I almost wish I wasn't born with the silver spoon," Ken muttered. "You know, if I had started out at the bottom, and just...gotten to the top through sheer force of will, it'd just be so awesome."

"Oh, don't even say that," Mimi said dryly. "The silver spoon is the most precious commodity on the planet." She pointed at Koushiro. "Look at this guy, he had all the money in the world, and he needed me to teach him how to use it."

Sammy checked, tapping the table with his fingertip. Koushiro quickly rapped his knuckles on the felt as well.

"I remember the first time I went to his apartment when we first started dating, I was...shocked at how unassuming and plain it was." Mimi sat down in her seat, hands still up on the rail.

The dealer dealt out the ace of diamonds.

"It wasn't terrible or anything, but it was the kind of apartment that anyone could have. So I'm thinking, okay, he's clearly frugal, that's good, but what's he doing with all the money he's making?"

Sammy checked again. Koushiro sprung into action, putting three platinum chips into the pot.

"So had to show him there was more out there than microwavable food and forty percent off t-shirts." Mimi wrinkled her nose a bit. "Trust me, the silver spoon is a gift to be cherished."

Sammy grabbed a full stack of platinum chips, cut it in half, and pushed out one of the stacks.

"Very nice," Koushiro said, immediately picking up his cards and flicking them around before dropping them over in front of the dealer. "Check that hand twice, very nice."

"Hey, he won one," Takeru said quietly, the room giving off light applause as Sammy took the pot.

"How'd you two meet?" Hikari asked, looking up at the slightly taller woman.

"Where else? A casino," Mimi answered. "I enjoyed playing the...simple casino games, blackjack, craps, roulette, baccarat. Small stakes, of course, I never played to make money, I played to have a little fun." She pursed her lips. "One night, I'm there, this was over in Panok, family vacation...and suddenly this buzz just kicks up in the entire room."

Sammy, on checking his new hole cards, grabbed two platinum chips next to five silver and gold chips, firing out a large bet into the pot.

"It almost feels like a hurricane is passing through the place with the way everyone's reacting, so I just...what's the eye of the hurricane, you know? What's got everyone bolting away from the craps tables all of a sudden, heading to the rail in the poker room?"

Koushiro made a call, tossing a slew of chips in to match the wager.

"I go to check it out, and there he is, settling down at the heads up table. He had a metal suitcase handcuffed to his right arm with three hundred thousand dollars inside, and he said...anyone who wants some, come get it." Mimi smirked at the memory. "It was so...strange seeing, I had no idea who he was, he was just some thin guy with a lot of money and a lot of gamble."

The flop emerged onto the table. Seven of hearts, jack of clubs, five of spades.

"So what drew you to him?" Miyako asked. "Besides the...three hundred thousand dollars."

Mimi couldn't help but give a small laugh. "Admittedly, the contents of that suitcase were pretty alluring, but...you know, he was just so...adorable."

Sammy fired out three platinum chips past the line. Three hundred grand bet to Koushiro.

"I learned from some other observers that he was...a millionaire, an online celebrity, one of the most feared players in poker, yada yada yada, but...looking at him, he was this just a good-looking dork with limited social skills. And I thought, wow, what a character this person must be. Half the rail observers talked about him in reverential tones, and all I saw was this cute nerdy looking guy in cheap clothes."

Koushiro put out three platinium chips, calling the wager.

"I bought him a drink," Mimi continued. "I know, it usually goes the other way around, but I just needed a way to get his attention." She gave a catty little grin. "He said that...he never drank alcohol while playing poker, but he appreciated the gesture. I told him...that the drink would get warm if he waited too long, but the poker table would be there no matter how long he waited. Then I gave him the number of my cabana and walked off."

The dealer put down the turn, the nine of spades.

"He was there about forty seconds after I got there," she said with a victorious grin.

"Great story," Ken said. "Smart man."

Sammy checked, tapping the felt with his fingers.

"I thought I would love being with a man who's willing to take risks," Mimi said, watching Koushiro check behind. "But I'll tell you, the gambles he's willing to take, just hearing about it makes my whole body clench. Sometimes, it can be very stressful just to be around."

"Well, you met the guy in a poker room with three hundred grand in cash handcuffed to his arm, so I think you got a pretty fair warning," Yuma pointed out. "And believe me, if anyone can take those risks and get away with it, it's Prodigious."

The river card was plopped down on the board. Ten of clubs.

"Five months ago, I was laying in bed one evening, reading. Koushiro comes in, sits down on the side of the bed, takes off his shirt and his socks, turns to me, and says...he lost one point six million dollars playing online poker that day," Mimi recalled. "I was so shocked, the book I was holding got torn apart at the spine. Not even anger, just...such a jolt, the thing just split in two in my hands."

"Sounds like a fun thing to be told right before bed," Akira said, eyes bulging a bit as he pursed his lips, smiling grimly. "One point six."

"Don't get me wrong, I come from money, I got a rich daddy," Mimi continued. "But not that kind of money. My father ever loses one point six million in one day, he probably jumps off the top of the building he works in." She grimaced. "So I hit the roof. But Koushiro, he's totally calm, totally balanced."

Koushiro took five platinum chips and wagered them, throwing them past the yellow line.

"He just kind of explains what happened in this very analytical way. He says that his process and his logic were sound, he just was wrong a few times and got unlucky a few times, and those things can pile on top of each other for a bad day. He wasn't even really frustrated or upset, just...tomorrow's another day." She smiled. "I can't help it though. I'm a results-oriented person, I'm instinctively about the bottom line. I want to know what he did wrong and what he's doing to fix it, he says he didn't do anything wrong. He calls it the variance of poker, and that you have to be willing to take some bad days and keep fighting to the good days."

Sammy grabbed five platinum chips, then reached behind his stack to take a chip that had all the colors of the rainbow alternating along it's surfaces. He pushed the chips in. The five platinum chips matched the initial bet of half a million, and the rainbow chip represented a full million chip raise. The entire room gave a low gasp at the move by Sammy.

"Holy shit, what do they have?" Takeru muttered, leaning in closer to the action.

"Obviously, someone has a straight, right?" Daryl replied. "Maybe Koushiro has an eight and Sammy has king queen?"

"If Koushiro has an eight he's paying this off for sure," Daisy said. "Maybe Koushiro has two pair and Sammy has an eight."

Koushiro's facial expression flinched a bit, and then he looked up over at Sammy, staring his foe down, eyes dancing down to the million chip raise he had just made.

"Does Koushiro fold two pair?" Mimi asked, now getting suddenly engrossed in the action.

"I think he probably does," Ken replied. "Just seems like, how can Sammy do this without an eight or better?"

The room was silent for several seconds, Koushiro not removing his gaze from Sammy, trying to figure out what to do. The entire room was practically holding their collective breath.

"Yeah, Koushiro has two pair. If he had a straight he would have called by now. He definitely doesn't have queen eight or king queen, he'd raise, would have done it by now too." Takeru nodded. "Jack ten, ten nine, something like that."

"Hey." Daisy turned to Mimi. "How'd that story finish?"

"He just rolled over and went to sleep. I took some aspirin, tried to not have a stroke, and eventually got so tired being angry I just kind of...collapsed into slumber."

Koushiro grabbed one of his rainbow chips and threw it forward into the pot.

"Good call," Sammy said, sounding almost a little meek.

"Maybe not," Koushiro replied. "You're gonna want to table your hand, trust me."

"No, no way." Sammy turned over the four of hearts and the two of hearts.

"Wow, nuclear squadoosh," Akira said in shock as he looked at Sammy's hand.

"He's playing the board, what a bluff," Daisy said in a bit of a throaty voice. "His hand literally doesn't play."

Koushiro turned over his cards. Ace of clubs, three of clubs.

"Oh my GOD!" Takeru couldn't help but snap out, putting his hands up on his head. He would have been reprimanded for the vocal outburst, had he not been drowned out by the entire room giving a unified yelp of surprise.

"Ace freaking high?" Miyako squeaked out. "Ace high? His kicker doesn't even play!"

"Soul read, holy crap," Takeru muttered. "Sick."

Sammy could only give a very thin smile as the room erupted into applause.

"Wow." Mimi slowly sat back down. "You know it's big when even I know it's big."

Slowly, the room settled down, amazement at the hand easing down as seconds ticked by.

"Sick bluff," Ken said. "Sicker call."

"Three weeks after that night, I was laying in bed one evening, reading. Koushiro comes in, sits down on the side of the bed, takes off his shirt and his socks, turns to me, and says...he won two point three million dollars playing online poker that day." Mimi swallowed down hard. "I might not fully understand this...process he has, and I may not love all the money he puts at risk on this process, but...what can I say to that?"

"Probably had a lot more fun that night," Ken said wryly.

"Oh, you have *no* idea," Mimi replied with a grin.

OOO

Sammy paced a few steps away from the table, then back towards it, hands on his hips. "I...I guess you'd do this with a draw, you might not have a made hand yet, but...oh man." He put his hands up behind his head.

Sammy looked back down at the flop. King of diamonds, nine of clubs, eight of clubs.

"Oh, if I'm wrong, I'm so far behind it's pretty much over." Sammy grimaced. "Set of eights, set of nines...you might."

Koushiro was motionless, just staring down at the felt, expression giving away absolutely nothing. Koushiro had sixty percent of the chips in play still in front of him. Sammy had about fifteen percent. The remaining twenty-five percent was in the middle, beckoning Sammy, demanding that he put in the rest of his stack to continue on.

"Can I really play this hand, flop this well, and fold?" Sammy grumbled to himself. "I don't think I can."

"Wow, what's he got?" Hido leaned in closer, head going over the rail a bit, watching Sammy's agonized decision play out for all to see.

"I think he...he must have a king." Takeru stood up, anticipating the impending end of the match. "King queen, king jack, something like that. Top pair, he's gotta go with it. Koushiro could easily just have a draw."

"Alright." Sammy stopped by the side of the table. "If you flopped a set, then...you're in good shape, but I can't fold." He motioned forward. "Call."

"No set," Koushiro said, almost springing to life from hibernation as soon as Sammy had made his decision. He turned over the jack of clubs and the five of clubs. Sammy gave a small fistpump, then turned over the king of hearts and queen of spades.

"Alright, top pair against a flush draw," Takeru said, clapping a few times. "Come on, hold. Sammy's right back in this thing if he holds, he'll have a little less than half the chips."

"Good call," Koushiro said softly.

"Good call," Sammy repeated. "But will it be a good result?"

"Lot of outs," Miyako said, peering across the room. "Nine outs, twice."

"You'll all forgive me if I'm pulling for a club," Mimi said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'll meet you halfway," Daryl offered. "Turn card, seven of hearts, gives Koushiro a straight draw on the river as well. Double sweat."

"As long as he bricks out, I'll take a sweat," Takeru murmured.

The turn card came out. Five of diamonds.

"More outs now," Daisy said, rubbing her hands along her forearms nervously. "No jack, no five, no club...I think that's it, right?"

"Yup. Jack, five, club." Takeru stuck his hands in his pockets.

The river card was dealt. Ace of clubs.

Sammy could only squeeze his eyes tightly, wincing, giving off a pained look as the room erupted. Koushiro stood up from the table, slowly rounding it. Sammy opened his eyes again, giving a look of resignation, taking Koushiro's hand and shaking it.

Takeru felt a bit of a weight in his stomach for the briefest of moments, but was quickly distracted by the sight of Mimi hurdling the railing and darting across the floor, looking quite awkward in shoes unfit for such a task.

Koushiro barely had time to share a word with Sammy before Mimi straight on tackled him, taking him full to the ground and laying atop him, not remotely shy about giving him a full kiss right on the lips. The crowd, which had just started to scale back the cheering at the crowning of a champion, couldn't help but give an amused collective laugh at the display.

"She's...she's a pistol, isn't she?" Ken said, unable to not smile despite the unfortunate fate of his good friend.

Takeru nodded, watching Sammy slowly depart from the table, over towards the rail, where the always-present Erin Parker awaited him. As the volume from the crowd died away, Koushiro finally allowed to get to his feet, she put the microphone up near his face.

"Samuel Abaid, our runner up here at the Heads Up Championship, recipient of four hundred and thirty thousand dollars, joins us now. Samuel, you really had a phenomenal run in this tournament, you definitely lived up to your family name, what made you such a force here playing heads up?"

"Well, it's all about reading your opponent and being aggressive, two things I always try to practice in any poker game I play, so I played without fear, I trusted my reads, and it got me right to the end." Sammy nodded a few times.

"Obviously, it has to hurt a bit, getting so close to the bracelet without winning it. You certainly fought a good battle against Koushiro Izumi, you were able to keep the match live for some time even after taking a big early hit, how do you feel coming out of this match?"

"Well, I have a lot of confidence in my abilities at poker, but I do realize that Koushiro is a special breed of player, and he's just got more skins on the wall than me, and that most people would bet on him being the better player, so that's how it goes. And hey, it comes down to the cards sometimes, and...if that club doesn't hit the river on that last hand, we're close to even, I'm right there, and we're not having this conversation right now. When you decide to play poker, you gotta live with stuff like that."

"Talk about that second hand of the match, the massive river bluff when you were playing the board," Erin inquired.

"Well, I thought I needed to do something big and bold to win this match, because frankly, Koushiro's an intimidating opponent, and if that bluff gets through, I have a significant chip lead and I would feel really good about my chances. I actually gave up on the turn in that hand, was just gonna let him have it, but then he bet the river, and I took that to mean that he was turning a weak hand into a bluff, because I didn't think he had anything strong that he'd check the turn with. So I decided I could push him off whatever he had, and I...I guess he saw in me what I saw in him, and he was just hoping that a naked ace was good."

With that, Sammy walked away from Erin, over to the rail near his friends, who were all ready to greet him with apologetic looks.

"You played your ass off, my man," Ken said, coming over to pat the top of Sammy's hand as Sammy placed his hands up on the rail.

"I would gladly trade my ass for that bracelet," Sammy said with a large smile. "But hey, took my father six years to win his first one, so I'm ahead of the curve, right?"

"You did better than me," Takeru said, looking up across the room. Koushiro, with Mimi hanging from his arm, was holding his hands up high in the air, the bands of the bracelet in each hand.

"Ace freaking high, huh?" Miyako said.

OOO

~Hikari~

Slowly, Hikari made her way down the steps to the main floor of the hotel room. Her eyes were trained on Takeru, who was out in the center of the room, doing assorted stretches on the floor, wearing a pair of boxers and nothing else.

"A lot of people say that you shouldn't let your slaves see you like this," Takeru grunted, pulling his right leg up against his chest. "Half-naked and flailing around like a toddler. They say it makes you look vulnerable and weak, harder to respect."

Hikari's bare feet hit the carpet at the bottom of the steps. She was wearing just her silk bathrobe. She had become nearly addicted to the feeling of silk on her skin. If she had her way, she'd wear this particular bathrobe at all times.

"Do you want me to leave?" Hikari asked.

"Well, at this point you already probably know more about me than the experts would recommend, so...it's whatever." Takeru splayed out on the floor, sweating a bit, looking up at Hikari. "I've embarrassed myself enough around you, what's the difference at this point?"

Hikari gave him a smile, coming over to one of the cushioned chairs out in the middle of the floor. "So, I checked the calendar. Main event in about a week."

"Yup, the ride is almost over, just a handful of events left," Takeru said. "Two bracelets, one point three million dollars...beautiful stuff."

She propped her elbow up on the armrest of the chair, resting her chin in her palm. "So, fifty thousand dollar buyin has you a little nervous? Saw that on the calendar too."

"You just see right through me, don't you?" Takeru sat up, crossing his legs. "Yeah, I have not maintained this master-slave relationship by the book at all." He shrugged. "Oh well, you help me win at poker, we're good."

"Well, you're up earlier than usual, you're...doing this weird stretching thing, something feels different." Hikari cocked an eyebrow. "Are you nervous?"

"Honestly?" Takeru slowly got to his feet. "Yeah, this one's kind of a big deal. And I'll look a little foolish if I donk out early." He leaned his head back, stretching out his neck. "They call this one the Player's Championship. This is probably the most prestigious poker tournament in the world, and a good performance in this particular event will earn you more respect amongst your peers than anything else in the world." He reached his arms up high above his head. "Fifty grand buyin, so there's no stragglers just trying to take a flyer and see what happens. Just the elite poker players of the world."

Hikari gave a thin smile. "Hey, you've already surpassed all reasonable hopes and goals, right? Just play your game, your game is clearly good enough."

"See?" Takeru rotated his arms around in windmills. "You do help me at poker. I got to remember stuff like that."

"Um..." Hikari thought for a moment. "So, we've got a few minutes, I think." She blinked a couple times. "Before we get down there, how do you play...horse?"


	21. Chip Race

Chapter 21: Chip Race

Chip Moreland, a fairly small man with a bald head and finely trimmed mustache and beard, sat in the plain cushioned chair, arms resting flush with the armrests.

"Horse is, quite simply, the pinnacle of competitive poker, and this particular tournament is the greatest realization of that pinnacle in the world right now."

He laughed a little bit. "Of course, maybe I'm a bit biased saying that, but what can possibly beat a tournament like this? It's the greatest field of players in the world, and there's not even a hint of weakness out there, there can't be." He gestured around with his hands as he spoke. "You have to be at the top of your game, as well as an established successful player, to even think about playing in a tournament like this. You've got the fifty thousand dollar buyin, which is some pretty serious cash for just about anyone, so you'd never see some middling amateur just decide to sign up just to see what happens. And the format, you can't mess around, you have to be a great player and you have to be enthusiastic about the several different types of games that you're gonna have to play. There are no weak players in a horse tournament, particularly in this one. In my opinion, winning this tournament is the greatest achievement a poker player can have, it's the hardest tournament to win in the world, and if you do win it...you get immortalized forever."

OOO

"Chip Moreland, very outspoken about the prestige of this tournament."

"Yeah, I wonder why that might be. Oh, could it be because...he won this tournament last year?"

"Heh, yeah, that's certainly got to be part of it. Chip took home the Player's Championship last year, outlasting three hundred and twenty other players, he's back this year looking at a field that's even bigger this year. Fifty Thousand Horse is three hundred and fifty-six players strong this time around, building a prize pool of seventeen million eight hundred thousand."

"I've played in horse tournaments before," Takeru said, looking over to his left side, at the player seated two seats to his left. "Not for...fifty thousand dollars a man, but we did some horse tournaments at academy."

"It's bold, my man," Raju Ban said, nodding over at Takeru. "But I'm telling you, it's gonna be a rough one."

"I gotta play," Takeru replied. "The way this year has gone for me, I...I gotta do it."

"So, Connor, what makes this tournament so great? Let's talk about that while we wait for play to begin, we're a few minutes out now."

"Well, let's start with a bit of fun trivia. This tournament is one of two world series events with no rake by the world series. In all previous tournaments, ten percent of the buyins went to the world series. But this event has always been considered for the players, so the world series forgoes their ten percent and makes money off of advertising and sponsorships only. That makes for a bigger prize pool, which is always nice for the players, and you know players love the world series showing them appreciation by removing the rake for this event."

"The winner of this tournament will take home a hefty four million four hundred and fifty thousand in cash, one of the biggest payouts in the world of tournament poker. Now, Connor, let's explain for some of the viewers who might not be in the know, what is horse?"

"Great question. Well, the thing about horse in poker, is that it's not a word. It's an acronym. H-O-R-S-E. H, for Holdem. O, for Omaha Hi-Lo Eight Or Better. R, for Razz. S, for Stud. E, for the Eight in Stud Hi-Lo Eight Or Better. Five games, five of the biggest games in poker, all in one tournament. The game being played rotates every two rounds of play. So everyone in this field of players better be ready to show their chops at all five disciplines."

"Quite a tall task for any player. If you have a weakness as a poker player, it can and will be exploited over the course of a horse tournament. There is no dead money in a field like this."

The dealer, a man wearing a black casino uniform, went over to the empty side of the table. "Alright folks, let's get it in the air." He tapped a small little screen to his right, embedded in the table. The screen spat out a tiny hologram hovering an inch above the table, showing nothing but a green 'H'. Suddenly, the hologram began to rapidly change letters, flashing to an 'O', then a 'R', 'S', and 'E', repeating this fast-paced flipping between the five letters, finally stopping on 'O'.

"The game is Omaha Hi-Lo Eight Or Better!" he announced. He spread out a fifty-two card deck in front of him. "Let's go!"

OOO

"I'm gonna raise it," Takeru said, putting out three black chips in front of him.

"So what's your position, Connor? Do you think this Fifty Thousand Horse tournament is the hardest tournament in the world to win? Is winning it the biggest achievement in poker?"

"Well, here's the thing. The field for this tournament is three hundred and fifty-six players. The main event, this year, is going to have somewhere around twenty thousand players. That factor alone makes it really hard for me to say this is harder to win than the main event."

"I'll call." Freddy Garcia tossed another black chip into the middle.

"Also, this is a limit tournament, so the betting structure is rigid. Players get to play a much more basic style of poker compared to no limit or pot limit. There's a little less trickery and advanced play involved. Less landmines to dodge, less chance of one unlucky hand sinking you."

The dealer put out a flop. Eight of clubs, nine of hearts, ace of hearts.

"Seven nine ace flop, fun flop for both players! Freddy leads right now, he's picked up a pair of aces, he's holding ace jack ten five. Takeru, however, holds jack ten seven six WITH the jack and ten of hearts. He's got a whole world of outs. Any five, six, seven, ten, jack OR queen gives him a straight, and any heart gives him a flush! Takeru has the worst hand now, but he's actually a pretty big favorite."

"Bet it," Freddy announced, tossing out a black chip.

"Here's what I would say about this tournament. It requires the most skill of any tournament in the world. You have to be very good at all five disciplines of poker that are played. You can't ever expect to sit down at your table at the start of the day and be able to figure out who the lackluster player is and target them, since there are no lackluster players."

"Raise." Takeru put out two black chips.

"And conversely, with this being a limit structure, it means stack sizes can't shift too dramatically in a short period of time. A player can get unlucky a few times in a row and still have enough chips to make a comeback. In no limit, a quick run of bad luck and you're out. So this tournament is probably the greatest representation in the world of poker skill. But I can't say it's harder to win than the main event, if that makes sense."

"I call." Freddy put out a black chip.

"Turn card on the way. Freddy doesn't want to let go of his top pair, but there are so many ways for him to fall behind here it almost feels like it already happened."

The turn card hit the board. Five of diamonds.

"And there we go! Takeru hits a straight on the turn. He's got a six and a seven in his hand, the board has a five, eight, and nine, he's got a firm grip on this hand! And Freddy made two pair, he's got aces and fives, so he's not drawing dead, but that card is likely to get him into even more trouble. And just for good measure, with Takeru holding seven six, and the board containing five ace eight, he actually also has a qualifying low hand, so he can proceed with little concern."

"Freddy can not make a low hand at this point, so Takeru is guaranteed the low half of the pot, and is a ninety-one percent favorite to take the high."

"Bet." Freddy put out two black chips.

"Freddy feels emboldened by turning two pair, he bets directly into the teeth of danger."

Takeru swallowed down a bit, playing with his chips, looking down at the four community cards.

"Also, this is a very deep stacked tournament. Each player starts with fifty thousand in chips, the blinds start at fifty and one hundred, so it's very hard for bad luck to eliminate a player. The cream will rise to the top in a tournament like this."

"Four hundred." Takeru pushed out four black chips.

"Takeru does the only thing a man can expect to do when holding the nuts. He raises. It's limit, so he's got to snatch up value while he can. Freddy can't reasonably be expected to fold here, but I think he should be able to detect the danger and just call."

"Sure." Freddy flipped out two black chips. "Let's see the river."

"Freddy does call. This is a pretty decent sized pot for a hand this early in the tournament. Freddy needs to have an ace of five on the river to win half the pot."

The dealer swiped down a fifth card to the board. Two of clubs.

"No full house for Freddy, he's just got two pair. And he quickly checks it over to Takeru."

"Good check by Freddy. He knows that in a game like Omaha, two pair is not really a hand you want to go to war with. He suspects that Takeru might be holding the nut straight, he just wants to get to showdown for a minimal amount of chips."

Takeru tossed out two more black chips, pumping the pot further.

"Takeru bets out, another two hundred, he's got an armor-plated lock on this hand. Obviously, with players this deep and the games being limit, nothing that happens at this point can be of massive importance, but it'll be a nice pot for Takeru."

"Yeah, I call." Freddy tossed out two more black chips. "Straight?"

Takeru turned over his four cards.

"Yeah, that'll do it." Freddy tossed his cards over to the dealer. "Very good."

"Nice pot for Takeru Ishida, he's on the move in the right direction to start out the Player's Championship!"

OOO

"Sometimes, it's hard just to remember what you're playing in a horse tournament. Think about it, you've got Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, and Razz, three games that use the exact same dealing format, if you're not paying attention you could easily forget what game you're playing."

Takeru looked down at his upcard, ace of diamonds, then peeled up the five of diamonds and eight of diamonds.

"And Takeru looks down at a monster, wow! Three diamonds, including the ace of diamonds, and three low cards, that is a BEAUTIFUL starting hand in Stud Hi-Lo."

"I'll complete." Takeru put out two purple chips.

"Takeru completes to two thousand. The bring-in is four hundred, all players still have reasonable stacks behind. Takeru was first to act, so this SHOULD get a lot of respect from the table."

"Urbanovich folds, Jackson folds, and...Sidle is not folding it would seem, he's got a queen of clubs up, and...a queen of hearts and a ten of spades in the hole."

Mark Sidle looked over at Takeru, playing with his chips.

"This is probably good enough to play. He's probably concerned that Takeru has an ace in the hole, but it's worth sticking around for at least a card or two."

"I'll call." Sidle put in two chips as well.

"He's in. Phillips is not, Thompson is out...folds around to Dennis Baker, who paid the bring-in with a four of clubs showing."

Baker slowly peered down at his two hidden cards. Five of clubs and six of clubs.

"Well, Dennis actually has something to play here! Not often you get dealt a playable hand when your up card is a four, but he's getting a nice price to call, he should stick around."

"Alright, let's play." Dennis reached into the pot and took back his bring-in, replacing the chips with two purples.

"Easy hand to play for Dennis. Either you make progress towards a straight, flush or you don't invest any more chips, that simple."

The dealer tossed a card to each of the three players still in the hand, face up. Takeru picked up the nine of clubs, Sidle caught the eight of hearts, and Dennis hit the jack of diamonds.

"All three players catch blanks on fourth street. Takeru first to act, he's showing ace high, but Sidle leads with a pair of queens."

Takeru tossed out two chips promptly.

"Takeru will bet, a continuation bet, he'll try to represent a big hand that he doesn't yet have. Action to Sidle."

Mark pursed his lips, looking back down at his cards.

"You know, Takeru's in real nice shape in the player of the year race. Only a handful of tournaments left, he's maintained the lead the entire way, not often you see that. Two bracelets this year, nobody else has more than one. Four final tables, tied for the most this year. Fourteen cashes, the most of anyone. And about one point three million dollars in profit, trailing only Vanessa Bellande."

"I'll call." Mark put in two chips, passing the action over to Dennis.

"Yeah, a twenty-year-old taking home player of the year would be something else, never been done before. And Takeru can actually still break a few world series records, he's close to the record for most cashes in a year, he's two final tables away from that record...but it really does come down to these last few tournaments, the player of the year race."

Dennis put in two purple chips. "Sure."

"This tournament, the two twenty-five thousands, one drop, and of course the main event all weigh pretty heavily into player of the year, of course, since they're such big tournaments. Takeru did a lot of his damage in the early, smaller tournaments. So someone, there are a few candidates for it, could catch and pass him."

The dealer zipped out new cards to each player. Takeru snatched up the king of spades, Mark the four of spades, and Dennis the two of hearts.

"We've got enough bricks here to build a strip mall. Nobody improves, although Takeru might be able to use that king as a scare card."

Takeru took several seconds to mull over his decision.

"Of course, not that many players play one drop, so the potential impact of that is muted a bit. And even this horse tournament doesn't have huge signups. And, of course, if Takeru manages to have a strong showing here, the race would be all but over."

"Bet." Takeru tossed out four purple chips.

"Good instincts by Takeru, continuing the aggression. It's very unlikely that Mark likes that four that he just picked up, he's a good candidate to have a pair of queens that he's gonna have to fold now. And Dennis's upcards are so ragged, the only way he could even consider continuing would be if he has a set."

"Alright." Mark slid his cards over to the dealer, a look of mild annoyance on his face.

"That's what I get for playing this garbage," Dennis grumbled, folding his hand.

"Nice play by Takeru to take that pot down! He bet strong when his hand was promising, he continued to bet strong when his hand didn't pan out, and he manages to pick it up!"

OOO

~Hikari~

"Are you serious?" Ken had a big grin on his face, face almost bouncing up and down in excitement. "Are you serious?"

The entire gang of friends was gathered out in the front lobby of The Horseshoe, crowded together at a rounded table in the corner of the bustling room.

"You sound shocked," Takeru said. "I guess I can't blame you, I'm so bad at our home games."

"Oh, don't even try that, this is...this is fifty K horse, man, this is the best of the best of the best, and you're...come on man, this is...this isn't even comparable to what was happening before."

"Hey, Joseph always told me that I had all the makings of a mixed game specialist," Takeru said. "I'm just realizing my destiny." He leaned in towards the table, lowering his head a bit. "Guys, really, these cards I'm getting...it's insane, you guys watching from the rail can't see my cards, if you could you'd get it." He pointed his thumb to his right, over at Hikari. "It's all on her."

"You're third in chips, you have to be doing something right," Sammy protested. "I'm just glad to be in your orbit while you go on this run."

"It's been nice," Takeru agreed. "But we're not even close to the money yet, so let's just hold on, plenty of time for a blowup."

Daisy raised her hands up, pointing one at Ken and the other at Sammy. "So, will either of you be offended if I watch TK's table? I just...it might seem a little bandwagon-y, but I just wanna watch history, if history is indeed playing out."

"If I was offended, would you come watch me instead?" Sammy asked. "Watch whoever you want, it's fine, I'd be watching TK play if I wasn't in the tournament myself."

"Speaking of which, break is almost over," Takeru said, looking up at a clock on the wall and standing up. "Just three more hours, boys, let's make it to day two together."

Everyone stood up, Hikari staying glued to Takeru's side as he maneuvered through the thick crowd, back into the main room of the casino. She was feeling a special thrill today, the unmistakable change in energy from Takeru compared to all previous tournaments. Takeru was typically quite collected and level, but despite his attempts to vocalize an even keel, she could sense his tension.

"Nothing to it," Takeru mumbled to himself. "Nothing to it at all."

"There's something to it," Hikari replied back slyly. Takeru shot her a bit of a confused look, which Hikari enjoyed a bit more than she would have expected.

In a matter of minutes, they were back at the rail, Takeru vaulting the short barrier, ready to get back in the game. Hikari observed his shoulders underneath his suit jacket, tense and tight, not at all what she typically saw of him.

"So, things a lot better now, huh?" Daisy said lightly, passing Hikari a small chocolate bar. She took it.

"Thank you, and yes," Hikari replied.

"You know I love to see that," Daisy said, putting her hands up on the railing as Takeru settled into his chair. "I've hardly ever seen TK upset about anything in his life. He doesn't ever have much to be upset about." She looked over at her. "You made him unhappy, that's not easy."

Hikari gave a meek little smile. "Yeah, I guess."

"So, what happened? If I may ask." Daisy turned to watch as the uniformed dealer got another hand in the air.

"I, uh, I don't know if I should talk about it," Hikari said uneasily. "I just, I don't want to say too much. We talked about it, came to an understanding, and...yeah."

"You're right, I'm sorry," Daisy said quickly. "Sorry, just...I kinda have a bit of a stake in what happens, but don't worry about it."

"Why aren't you playing?" Hikari pointed at the table, eager to change the subject.

"Oh, horse is...a little much for me," Daisy said, observing Takeru putting out ten purple chips.

"First hand back from break, you're telling me you've got something again?" A player across from Takeru said, staring the blond down. "I mean, maybe you do."

"I raised it, that's all I'm gonna say," Takeru replied. "I might have it, might not, but...all I'll say is the bet is ten grand."

"I'm really not a fan of stud games," Daisy continued. "And you're playing a stud game sixty percent of the time in a horse tournament."

"I don't get it, Daisy," Daryl said, coming up to Hikari's right side. "You can play em, I've seen you play those games, you're passing up the chance to win money."

"Do I look like I need money?" Daisy asked, giving Daryl a wry smile. "If I'm not enjoying myself, what's the point? This is a game, the first step is having fun."

Three players in the hand, the dealer placed down a flop. Nine of hearts, six of clubs, jack of hearts.

Takeru quickly tossed five purple chips forward.

"Oh, a continuation bet, you must really have it!" The player said, squinting over at Takeru. "Or...you want me to think you have it."

Takeru shrugged. "It's one of the two, I can say that."

"But yeah," Daisy added. "I'm content to keep my interests firmly in Holdem and Omaha. I'll let the true masters of the game tackle horse."

"I-I think you're really good," Hikari countered. "I think you could play with any of them."

"That's very sweet, thank you," Daisy replied.

"Yeah, I'm calling." Five chips got thrown into the pot. "First hand back from a break, this guy wants me to believe he's got something, no way."

"Set of jacks?" Hikari mumbled under her breath. "Set of nines?"

"Oh, he's got nothing," Daisy whispered casually. "Listen to him talking, he's nervous, he's got like...maybe he's got a draw, he doesn't have anything."

"TK's pretty balanced with his table talk," Akira said. "I don't know, I think it could go either way." The dealer dealt out a turn card, the five of diamonds.

"Yeah, but listen to what he's saying," Daisy countered, leaning down a bit. "Why would he be strengthing his range with verbal stuff unless he was weak? He's got nothing."

Takeru dropped a single silver and gold chip aross the yellow line on the table.

"Wow." The lone player in the hand across from Takeru raised an eyebrow. "Another bet. Another...another bet." He grimaced. "You just might. Maybe you really got it." He looked back down at his two hole cards.

"Yeah, I think so too. I think he's got...hearts, ace something of hearts." Yuma nodded. "Flush draw, maybe two overs."

"Man, you know I like you," Takeru continued. "You've been fun, you've been a great addition to the table. But I gotta play my hand."

"Yeah, he's so nervous right now, what's he doing?" Daisy murmured. "He knows better than this."

"Maybe he's levelling." Akira put his forearms down on the railing. "Like, I know this looks weak, so I'll do it when I'm strong? He wouldn't try this nonsense against a professional unless he was playing games."

"I feel like he's actually nervous," Daisy insisted. "I really do."

"Man, I'm not sure I like YOU anymore," the opposing player said, with a bit of a grin nevertheless. "Betting into me over and over, that ain't right, that ain't sporting."

"Hey, you're gonna like me a lot after you fold and then I show you my hand," Takeru replied. "You're gonna like me a lot when you see the hand that you'll be glad you didn't try to call against!"

"Listen to this, amateur hour," Daisy muttered, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "What's going on?"

"You'll show your hand?" Slowly, he picked his cards up and threw them over to the dealer. "Alright, I'd hate to give that hand up and see you flip over a heart draw, but...I'm gonna give you some respect."

"You're gonna be very happy." Takeru grabbed his cards, turning them over and slapping them down to the table. Nine of diamonds, nine of spades.

"Yeah, I'm pretty happy, I like you again," the opposing player said, watching the chips get pushed over to Takeru.

"Huh." Daisy shrugged. "Weird. I'd swear he was nervous."

"Set of nines, what's he got to be nervous about?" Akira asked.

OOO

Joe Kent bent his head back and looked up at the ceiling, spewing out a large breath. "Last hand of the day, I'm not gonna sleep tonight if I make the wrong decision here."

Takeru just sat quietly, shuffling his chips on the opposite side of the table. The seven other seats at the table had vacated, everyone else done for the day and heading back to their rooms, leaving the two in peace to play out the final hand of the day.

"Joe's got a hard decision here. Losing a significant chunk of your chips on the last hand of a blind level is bad, but losing a lot of chips on the last hand of the day is ten times worse! Of course, it's no fun folding the best hand either, but that doesn't concern Joe, since he certainly does not have the best hand. But can he figure that out?"

The board was eighty percent completed, showing the ten of clubs, eight of clubs, ace of diamonds, and four of clubs.

Takeru's four card hand consisted of the ace of clubs, ace of hearts, two of clubs, and three of hearts. Joe Kent held the king of hearts, king of clubs, ten of spades, and ace of spades.

"It's not easy. Kent currently has top two pair, tens and aces, and he also has a pair of kings in his hand that might come in useful if the river brings a king. Unfortunately, Takeru is holding the best starting hand possible in Omaha Hi-Lo, ace ace two three double suited, and currently has the nut flush. He also has a set of aces, which would become hugely relevant if the river pairs the board, thus giving him aces full. Takeru ALSO has an eight low, with two three in his hand and ace four eight on the board, so this is as beautiful as it gets for the youngster. In fact, Joe Kent is drawing stone dead, there isn't a card in the deck that can save him."

"Damn, there's so much in that pot already." Kent murmured to himself. Finally, he stacked a silver and gold chip on top of six purples and tossed them forward.

"Joe Kent just put in sixteen thousand chips that he'll never see again. There is now a staggering one hundred and forty thousand chips in this pot, and we've still got river bets to come."

The dealer, out in front of a massive mountain of chips, put out the ten of hearts.

"And things just get worse and worse for Mister Kent! He's improved on the river, he's got tens full of aces, but Takeru has also improved, he's now got aces full of tens, oh my goodness this is gonna get ugly for Joe!"

"I check," Kent said, tapping his finger on the felt.

"Oh boy, Joe thinks he's trapping Takeru, he's gotta be planning a check-raise, but he's about to fall straight into his own trap! I don't see any way out of this for Kent, he's got two hundred thousand chips behind give or take, it might all go in here!"

"Takeru gathers together sixteen thousand in chips, he's gonna bet it. The only hand that beats his right now would be quad tens, and even if Kent somehow had quad tens, Takeru has a made eight low, so he'd still get half the pot, he's really got nothing to be afraid of."

Kent snatched up three silver and gold chips along with two purples, check-raising. "I'm raising." He put out the small collection of chips.

"Joe fires out, inviting Takeru to come back over the top. This is just a terrible position to be in for Joe on the last hand of the day. He started this hand with an above-average chip stack, and now he'll be well below average. When will Kent start to smell trouble? Might this raise send off warning signs? Could he just call a three bet?"

"Going up," Takeru said, making another five-chip stack of silver and gold clay discs along with purples. "Forty-eight thousand."

Joe looked back down at his four cards slowly, then back over to Takeru. "Can you really have it every time?"

"If Joe can find it in him to just call here, he'd still have about one hundred and fifty thousand chips left for tomorrow, about half the average stack, which would be managable. But will he manage to find his call button?"

"I'll tell you, this is a fascinating hand. It's definitely a cooler, it's one of those hands where someone can't help but lose some serious chips, but this it really an interesting decision tree for Joe."

"Maybe you're trying to get me off a chop," Joe said, looking more stressed out by the moment. "You could have a low hand, maybe the nut low, you're just hoping you get me off a flush or something so you can take the whole thing." He blinked a few times.

Takeru was motionless outside of his right hand shuffling chips.

"Takeru has been mixing up his physical tells today. Sometimes he's been very talkative and animated, other times like right now he's a mannequin, and he's done well to not correlate either of those to the strength of his hand."

"If you've got like...the nut flush, I'm gonna regret this a bit, but...I'm just gonna call." Joe slid out a small collection of chips.

Takeru turned over his four cards. Joe needed a couple seconds to read his hand and compare it to the board, before he gave a strangled little moan and slumped over.

"Joe has seen the bad news, and it's crushing. Both players rivered a full house, but Takeru's was bigger, and Joe did good to preserve anything. He'll actually have fifteen big blinds when play starts tomorrow."

Joe slid his cards over to the dealer face down. "Tens full," he said, lifting his head up from the table. "Of course I'd get coolered like that just before midnight."

"And Connor, let me tell you, this Takeru kid has been getting some very nice cards today, but he's really impressed me with his play. With the first day in the books, he's got one point three million chips, which is more than quadruple the tournament chip average, and is good for the chip lead! With fifty-nine players left in the field, Takeru is showing everyone that his success so far has been far from a fluke!"

Takeru stood up, taking in some rapid, empathic breaths, clapping his hands together a few times aimlessly. "Wow. Wow-wow-wow-wow-wow."

"Takeru, usually pretty unflappable so far in this world series, is showing some emotion as he walks toward the rail, even he can't believe it. Twenty-year-olds are supposed to be the fish in a horse tournament, but so far he's been a shark!"

"See, what were you so nervous about last night?" Hikari asked as Takeru went to the rail. "It's just poker, that's all."

"Uh-huh," Takeru muttered, clearly preoccupied as he vaulted the railing and began walking away from the table briskly, Hikari hot on his heels.

"Takeru seems like he's in a hurry to get somewhere. Maybe he's tired. I certainly would be after a seventeen hour day of poker, particularly one this successful. We'll be back tomorrow for the conclusion of the fifty thousand horse event! Fifty-nine left!"

OOO

~Hikari~

"What's the matter?"

Takeru twisted his neck to look up above him, up at the ledge at the top of the staircase that led up to the bedrooms. Hikari was standing there in her bathrobe, looking down over the bannister. Takeru was leaning over his oxygen bed, hands resting on the curved glass that covered the top of the bed.

"Why would anything be the matter?" Takeru asked, voice just a tad high-pitched.

"Well, it's two in the morning, you have to get up in four hours, so this is just kind of...odd." Hikari slowly made her way down the stairs, keeping her eyes trained on Takeru. "Have you slept yet tonight?"

"Gee, I don't know, mom," Takeru said dryly. "I'll sleep eventually, it's fine."

"By eventually, do you mean some time tonight, or..." Hikari trailed off, coming to the base of the staircase, scratching the back of her head.

"H-hey, you're awake too, you know," Takeru countered, pointing over at Hikari. "Don't act like you're all better than me, you're up too."

"I'm not about to play for a five million dollar prize," Hikari countered, coming over next to her owner. "Besides, I'm accustomed to operating on little sleep, while you've probably had an entire team of servants devoted to making sure you never get less than eight hours your whole life, trust fund kid."

Takeru lifted his head up a bit, then turned to look at Hikari, face squinted. "Trust...trust fund, what?!"

Hikari, with a small smile, shrugged. "Daisy referred to you as that earlier today, I...I don't even know what it means. But it sounds nice."

"Oh, yeah, she should talk," Takeru mumbled, nevertheless grinning as he turned back to his bed. "Wow, my slave girl is giving me sass, why do...why do I care so little? This is so bad."

"So am I not allowed to hang around Daisy anymore?" Hikari said, coming over to lean up against the side of the bed.

"Either that, or you're required to hang around her much more than you are," Takeru replied. "Don't know which one."

"Okay, really, what's the matter? Why are you so nervous?" Hikari crossed her silk-covered arms over her chest.

"Oh, I'm not nervous," Takeru insisted. "I'm terrified." He gave his head a quick shake. "Like, that day when we first got here, getting up that morning, going down to the table, setting up for the One Thousand Holdem...this is ten times that. I was nervous as the day went on, more and more the more pots I won. I could kind of supress it, but...man."

"Why would you get nervous now?" Hikari asked, sounding rather confused. "You started the day with fifty thousand chips, you've got one point three million now, that's...you should feel great! That's not even getting into your rampage over the world series to this point."

"Yeah, the chip stuff, the chip count, that's actually kind of what it is," Takeru said, tapping his fingers on the glass cover on his bed. "I mean, now it's...everything's in front of me. It's all there."

"That's a positive thing," Hikari said. "Come on, it's just...poker. You've been playing it your whole life. It's limit poker, you told me limit poker was way easier than no limit. These are games that you know how to play, you've been playing them forever."

"Hikari, you...you got to understand, this...this wasn't what I even had in mind." He turned to her. "I mean, this event, I was planning to do it the whole way, obviously, but...I was just doing it for experience, exposure, and I just wanted to cash. Not even that, I was hoping to cash, I wanted to just not embarrass myself, but now...I have the chip lead." He cleared his throat. "And now here we are, and I'm pretty much guaranteed to cash, and...there's the opportunity for so much more than even that."

"Yeah, it's great," Hikari said.

"Look, I...the thing is, throughout history, there have been several hundred world series bracelet winners. Plenty of them. And quite a few of them, not a small amount even, they're...disregarded by history. Written off as mediocre players who got lucky over the course of a day or a couple days. Sometimes they even won more than one, and history still sort of just dismissed them as flash-in-the-pans." Takeru pushed himself away from his bed, pacing around slowly now. "Even people who have won the main event, they're not really respected, they're considered to be guys who just caught fire for a week or two." He pointed down at the floor. "This? This isn't like that. You don't win fifty K horse by a fluke. You don't get lucky, you don't just get a good table draw, you...winning this tournament is something that nobody can diminish or take away from you." He took in a deep breath. "You win this tournament, you become immortal as a great player. And I'm twenty years old, and I just wanted to not look like a giant fish in this tournament, and...this is just, I'm used to winning, but...wow. Day one was one thing, day one, things are quiet, you're a longshot, whatever, but day two, less than sixty left, this is the big time, and...look at where I am."

Hikari nodded. "Well. I'd love to say I could relate." She bit down on her cheek. "But unfortunately, the things in my life that have made me nervous usually involved me possibly getting whipped for breaking a plate."

"Yeah yeah, I know," Takeru grumbled. "Nice problem to have."

"All I have is this." Hikari pushed herself off the glass enclosure of the bed. "Back at the Ridley estate, one of the things my brother was tasked with doing was participating in fights for the purpose of entertainment. I'm sure you've heard of such things."

"Sure," Takeru said.

"The fights could be quite brutal. Never to the death, of course, and the inflicting of any permanent, serious injury was discouraged. The slaves were too valuable to be lost in something like an arranged fight. But, there was certainly quite a bit at stake. If Taichi won, he would be rewarded, and losing was a punishable offense. Motivation."

"So, what? If your brother can step into a fighting ring knowing that if he loses he's getting stripped naked and sprayed with ice cold water, then god dammit, I can suck it up and go play a card game with nothing but money at stake?" Takeru went back over towards the bed, rapping his hands on the glass atop his bed. "That's where this feels like it's going."

"Well...sure," Hikari said. "But Taichi would get nervous before fights too. He could get hurt in the fight, he could get hurt after the fight if things don't go well, and the extra food if he won was significant too, so there was quite a bit at stake."

Takeru nodded.

"He said that he always got nervous before a fight." Hikari paused for a moment. "And then, when the fight started, he said that he would be nervous up until the point when he made the first hit on his opponent. My brother's not a violent person, he doesn't want to hurt people, he was looking at these fights as being a sport that he was forced to participate in. He didn't get a thrill out of hurting someone. But he said that, once he got in a good lick, the tension left his body and he just did what he knew he was capable of doing."

"Hm." Takeru thought for a moment. "That sounds...horrifying."

"How do you think I felt watching it?" Hikari replied. "He was lucky enough that the Ripleys didn't want to lose him in a fight and only had him fight other slaves who were similarly inclined to not take it too far, but it's still very hard." She shrugged. "But he said, once he hit them once, he was right in his comfort zone, and he wasn't nervous anymore."

"There a few poker players I wouldn't mind punching," Takeru said wryly. "But I think I get your point."

"You made it to day two, feels intimidating now." She nodded. "Just know that as soon as you get down there tomorrow and pick up a pot...it'll just be the sport you've been playing your whole life."

"You're something else, you know that?" Takeru cracked open the glass enclosure around his bed, opening the top hatch. "They created the mold for you, and then they broke it. It's really something else."

"Hey, believe me, I wasn't like this before you," Hikari countered, turning towards the steps. "I barely ever had anything to say for the first twenty years of my life, you...without you, I'm just a mute field hand."

"What a shame that would be." Takeru grinned as he inserted himself into the bed. "You've just got so many interesting things to say."

OOO

"Trips." Takeru turned up the six of hearts and seven of hearts.

"Takeru shows Rex Diekman that he has, indeed, sucked out by spiking a third seven on the river, and he will take the pot. He was hot yesterday, and he's hot again today!"

Takeru, after taking in a small handful of silver and gold chips, turned around and looked at the rail. He pointed over at Hikari, smiling, and then gave her a thumbs up.

"And he's sending his regards over to Hikari, and I'll say, if there was ever a case for her presence helping him, it's this tournament. Takeru's chip lead is headed in the right direction!"


	22. Rush

Chapter 22: Rush

"Look, Takeru Ishida is a great kid. He's very sharp, he's got a great mind for poker. Great addition to the world of poker players, he'll be a relevant force as long as he wants to be." Prince Bannister's eyes bulged a bit as he leaned his head a bit to the right. "But come on. Fifty K horse? Can't last."

"There's a long history of players starting out strong in these big events and fizzling out, don't anoint him just yet, even as a chip leader it's so easy to fall apart in a couple hours." Ian Darvish drummed his fingers on the armrest of the plush chair. "He's playing good, but...all the cards he getting, it can't last. He's just a kid, this is his first world series, this is the biggest tournament he's ever been in by far...he probably went to bed last night feeling like he had already won. I think you'll see some serious regression today."

"Honestly, I would not be shocked at all if Ishida doesn't cash in this event," Linus Jacobson said, gesturing with his hands. "And that's not coming from a place of dislike, I think he's great, and he's shown some very impressive stuff over the last couple months. But at the end of the day, he's in a field of the best in the world, he can't...lean on the things he was leaning on in the earlier tournaments that he did so well in."

"I kind of feel like it's a mistake for him to have actually been in this tournament at all," Pat Daughtery said. "Well, maybe I can't really say that now, given that he started out so well and...well, we're all talking about him now, that's worth something, but...I don't know, I don't think it's a good idea for young, amateur players to compete in events like fifty K horse." He shrugged. "Stay in the cheaper tournaments, get experience, and a few years down the line, sure. The young ones in fifty K horse, I don't like it."

"Someone's going to get him," Josh Tollefson insisted. "It's just a matter of when. There's just way too much experience, way too much elite play out there, someone or someones are going to get him, I'm sure of it. Good on him for doing this well so far, but this tournament is designed for the great ones to be there at the end. He's not there yet. He can be, one day, but he's out of his league. He's not gonna be there at the end."

OOO

"Takeru Ishida, he's got a lot of chips, but he's also got a lot of doubters."

"Yeah John, we just ran what I call the Takeru Ishida Congo of Doubt. A handful of interview snippets from players in this tournament. A lot of big time professionals just don't see his day one results carrying over into day two. I understand that the poker veterans of the world are somewhat defensive about this tournament, they don't really want to see some twenty-year-old kid come in and win it. But with the world series run this kid is having, I think he deserves some more credit than he's getting."

Takeru's eyes danced around the table as players looked down at their cards and folded them over to the dealer.

"He's been picking up cards, but he's been playing them very well, he's been balanced, he's read his opponents nicely, and after a few hours of day two action, not too far off the money, he's still in great shape. I think the poker professionals of the world need to take notice."

"Well, it's folded around to Takeru on the button. I think he'll raise just about any two cards here. Blinds just went up to seven thousand and fourteen thousand, ante is at two thousand, so there's already a decent pot out there."

Takeru peered down at his two cards. King of hearts, king of clubs.

"Well, that'll certainly be good enough to play! Takeru picks up kings on the button, big hand!"

Takeru looked over at the two players to his left.

"Interesting spot. Aaron Kampman in the small blind only has thirty-five thousand behind, Ichiro Adachi in the big blind has forty-eight thousand behind. If Takeru raises here, do either of them have enough chips behind to fold?"

"I think so. Kampman has two and a half blinds left, he's basically only got one hand left he can play, and he's gotta find that hand in the next...round, basically, so I think he can find a fold if he's got garbage. He might be willing to throw away a mediocre hand as well, it depends on how much this upcoming money bubble means to him. And Adachi, it's the same thing. The thing is, Takeru would raise literally any two cards here, so if he does raise, you might just cross your fingers and call."

Takeru grabbed a silver and gold chip along with four purple chips, wordlessly putting them into the pot.

"Well, Takeru just calls, what's he done that for?"

Kampman looked down at the nine of hearts and seven of hearts, tilting his head down in thought.

"Well, a few reasons. He's just called there to...to trap, mainly. He's called there to under-represent his hand, although I think it actually might look a little suspicious that he didn't raise. He's done it for balance. Mainly, I think he wants to make sure he has a chance to knock out at least one of these two players in the blinds."

Kampman grabbed eight purple chips and pushed them forward into the pot.

"Kampman has medium suited one-gappers there, he now kind of has to call, he's getting a great price. I think he'd fold to a raise, so now Takeru has him on the hook. This is why he limped in."

Adachi peered down at the seven of spades and ten of clubs.

"And Adachi would definitely have folded this if Takeru had raised, I think, so now Takeru has two customers who might catch a piece of the flop. Like, if the flop has a seven in it, and both these guys catch a pair, Takeru might manage to bust both of them."

"Go ahead," Adachi said, motioning over to the dealer.

"Of course, the danger is that one of them catches a big piece of the flop and ends up cracking pocket kings, right?"

"Sure, having pocket kings in a three-way pot is not ideal, but Takeru can afford to risk it. I like it. We're so close to the money bubble, it's very likely that a raise wins the hand preflop, and right now what Takeru wants is to eliminate as many players as possible."

The dealer put down the flop. Five of hearts, queen of spades, six of hearts.

"Wow! Straight flush draw for Kampman, nothing for Adachi, Takeru with the overpair, I think Kampman's about to get it all in."

Kampman checked, tapping the felt. Adachi was quick to check behind.

"Kampman has two bets left exactly, he's checked there to check-raise all-in if Takeru bets. He's got to go with this hand and hope he catches good on the runout."

"Yeah, you can't flop this good and just fold with two big blinds left."

Takeru put in fourteen thousand in chips, signifying a bet.

"I'm all-in," Kampman announced immediately, jamming his remaining chips in. Adachi folded immediately.

"Yeah, I'm there with you, I call," Takeru said, turning over his hand and putting in chips.

"Here we go! This is for Kampman's tournament life right here, he needs a heart for a flush or an eight for a straight! And it can't go running hearts, Takeru has the king of hearts in his hand. Takeru's a small favorite, but Kampman has a lot of outs!"

Kampman stood up. "I guess I wasn't getting it in much better than this," he muttered. "Ace queen of hearts, that would have been a disaster."

The dealer put out the ten of diamonds on the turn.

"No good for Kampman, he's down to his last card, has to have a heart or an eight!"

The river, a three of spades, completed the board in Takeru's favor.

"That'll do it! Kampman is out short of the money, the board bricks out for his draws, and Takeru continues to stomp through the Player's Championship!"

OOO

~Takeru~

"I'm gonna bet," Takeru announced, putting out four silver and gold chips, prompting Josh Renkemeier to start squeezing the bridge of his nose.

"Why do I feel like I'm drawing dead?" Josh muttered, looking down at his two down cards. "Can I really fold this? I mean, I guess it's not that great, but...how can you be getting all these big hands?"

Takeru sat motionless, resting his head in his open palm, looking over at his opponent for the hand.

"I can't lie, I really wanted to be the one who cut you down," he continued. "I was excited when the table draw came out a couple hours ago, but...alright." He put together four chips and tossed them in. "I call."

Takeru watched the dealer fire out a face down card to Josh, then to him, though Takeru had little interest in his seventh card. With a six, ten, four, and ace showing, and a two and a three in the hole, he already had a made six low. With a casual glance down at his newly-acquired jack, he looked up in time to see Josh check.

"Forty." Takeru put out four chips.

Suddenly, a man in a black suit walked over the rail and went to the dealer.

"We're down to sixteen players, after this hand is over we're going to consolidate to two tables and go on break," he said to the table.

"One away from another money jump?" Josh said to himself. "Damn." He shook his head. "I think I have to call, but...if I'm wrong, short stack life support." He grabbed four silver and gold chips, then slammed them down on the table in front of his cards. "Eight low."

"Six low." Takeru turned over his three down cards, getting Josh to quickly throw his cards to the dealer with an annoyed grunt.

Takeru got to his feet, watching the chips get pushed over to his stacks, starting to slowly organize them. "Alright, are we going to another table or are we staying here?"

"We're drawing tables right now," the dealer said. "We'll know in a minute."

Takeru turned around, looking over at his modest section of friends and supporters, immediately locking in on one with a head of neat blue hair.

"Oh, you're the two table bubble boy?" Takeru said, immediately sweeping over to the rail. "You gotta be kidding me!"

"There's no such thing as a two table bubble boy," Ken replied. "But if there was...yes." He held up a small piece of paper, a congratulation message from the world series for finishing seventeenth.

"Man, I thought we were gonna get to play again," Takeru said. "You better at least have a good excuse."

"Man, I was so short stacked for like...the last four hours. I dodged so many bullets to get this far it's insane, I am a miracle worker to have made it this far." He pushed a large breath out of his mouth. "Couldn't get above ten bigs, I had to just jam after picking up a flush draw on fourth street, didn't come in."

Takeru leaned closer to Ken, putting his hands on the rail. "So what's that? One hundred and sixty thousand?"

"Little more than that, yeah," Ken answered, nodding. "I can't believe this stuff, man. Seventeenth place in the biggest horse tournament in the world."

"Imagine how I feel," Takeru replied, jerking his head back towards the table. "Three million chips plus now."

Ken reached up and grabbed the back of Takeru's head, grinning. "Man, you got this. You know all these...these experts, they don't believe in you, you should hear this stuff they say."

"I've gotten that impression," Takeru said. "Man, if I can just last one more position, it's over two hundred and thirteen thousand."

"Don't even think about that," Ken chided. "One more position, you can waltz to the final table and a guaranteed four hundred grand. Hell, the top five make seven figures, you can get a seven figure payout in a tournament, think about that!"

"Why don't we let him think about dinner first?" Hikari suggested, reaching forward and grabbing Takeru's arm.

"Yeah, food is good," Takeru said, nodding. "You know, that stuff you said last night, it's...it's like, I just focus on the game itself. Put the dollar amounts out of my head, it could be whatever amount, one dollar, one million dollars, whatever. I just think about the game. And yeah. Once I start playing, once I pick up my first hand, I just...I let it calm me down."

Hikari patted him on the back a few times. "You've got it, you're doing great. Let's eat, don't even think about the payouts right now."

Takeru nodded. "You know, now that I'm away from the table, not playing, I feel the nerves kicking up again. Crazy how much things change from one day to another, yesterday I would have killed for more breaks."

"You'll be playing again soon, let's go," Hikari said.

OOO

"I thought you said Razz was your worst game," John Schultz said, watching Takeru stack a newly-won pot.

"It is," Takeru said. "Believe me."

"Well, now I'm terrified." Pat Daughtery shook his head. "Pretty crazy stuff."

"Story of the day for everyone in this tournament not named Takeru Ishida. They have the kid in their sights, they all want to carve out a piece of his stack, they all think they can get the best of him, but they can't seem to do it. Pat Daughtery was actually one of the people who was willing to put his dismissal of Takeru on tape, what a blow to him it would be if it was Takeru who took his chips and knocked him out!"

"New game." The dealer tapped the little screen to his right on the table surface. The five letters spun through a rotation in the hovering hologram, before settling on an 'S'. "Stud. High only."

"We've got fourteen hands of stud on tap here at table one. Seven players left here, eight players left on table two. Blinds are at ten and twenty thousand, antes are at four thousand. Takeru is the table's big stack, as well as the big stack for the whole tournament, with three and a half million in chips. Daughtery has three hundred forty thousand behind, he is the short stack."

The dealer began to toss out cards, each player catching two down cards before picking up the up card.

"Here come the cards, the low up card will pay the bring-in of eight thousand. Nicholas Vasser is showing a deuce of hearts, he puts forward eight purple chips."

"I don't need many chips, you know," Daughtery said as he watched players look down at their cards before folding. "Just need a few. Juuuust need a few."

"Don't know who Daughtery is talking to there. Maybe himself."

"Well I think it sounds like a man who might be on tilt. He hasn't picked up a pot since this table started, his grand plan of siphoning chips away from Takeru has been a bust, so he might be a bit steamed right now."

"Alright, I'll need to get a few more here," he mumbled, looking down at a jack of hearts up and a seven of hearts and queen of spades down. He put out two silver and gold chips.

"Daughtery looks like he's on the steal. He completes to twenty thousand with queen jack seven, two hearts. Really hopes he doesn't get called and he can just pick this pot up."

Schultz folded, putting the action onto Takeru.

"Takeru has a king up, king of diamonds, and...wow! King of spades and king of hearts in the hole! Oh my Lord, Takeru has rolled up kings!"

Takeru put his two down cards flat in front of him, looking over at Pat.

"Bad time to be stealing for Pat, Takeru has the second best starting hand in Stud, and he knows that nobody has an ace as their upcard, so he knows he HAS to have the best hand."

Takeru sprayed out four chips, marking a raise to forty thousand.

"Takeru three-bets to forty grand, which clears out Vasser, he's folding his rags."

Pat glared over at Takeru, one hand covering part of his face, as he used his other hand to shuffle chips.

"He should be folding any second now. He might not be aware that his current equity in this hand is four and a half percent, but he should be aware that he's well behind and doesn't have much of a chance of catching up."

"Sixty thousand." Pat fired out four more chips.

"And...Danny, what's going on here? Pat four-bets it to sixty thousand, is this just...tilt?"

"Yeah, there's definitely some tilt here. There's...there's levelling. There's his belief that Takeru would do this with any two down cards when he has a king showing, so if he has rags he can blow him off it. It's all those things, I think."

Takeru thought for a moment, then repopped it with four more chips, pushing the action to eighty thousand.

"Takeru fires again, a fifth bet, and Pat needs to reach into his back pocket and try to find a white flag to wave."

"You know, Pat, a longtime world series veteran, been playing professional poker for decades, you'd think that he'd be the kind of person who could avoid getting steamed up and letting it affect his play, particularly with seventeen left in fifty K horse, but...he's basically set sixty thousand chips on fire here."

"Well, anyone and everyone is capable of going on tilt, we all have things that make us angry, and it can affect our play. Pat's a great player and he's been in all these situations before, but apparently, a twenty-year-old having the chip lead late in a horse tournament is something that just gets him hot under the collar!"

"One hundred." Pat put out four more silver and gold chips.

"And...oh my God, he's put out a sixth bet with jack high. Wow, what a gift to Takeru, he doesn't need people giving him chips right now. How can you level yourself into thinking that Takeru has something that he'll fold?"

Takeru blinked a few times, looking down at his upcard, then over to Pat's jack.

"Pat is desperately trying to convince Takeru that he has rolled up jacks, that he has three jacks, but...but Takeru WANTS him to have three jacks! Takeru is PRAYING that he has three jacks, because if he does, Takeru's getting paid off in a huge way! Oh my God, what a punt from Pat, he's lost a hundred thousand chips here."

"I think, in his mind, a sixth bet will eliminate any chance that he's bluffing in the eyes of Takeru, and guarantees that he'll now get credit for a good hand. And, yeah, without seeing the cards, how could Pat EVER be bluffing here after committing about thirty percent of his stack?! But, let's say Takeru's down cards were something like two queens, or king jack, or even two tens, is he ever just going to fold at this point? I don't get it! He's trying desperately to outplay Takeru, but he's picked a terrible time to try it!"

Takeru silently split out two stacks of two chips each, raising the action yet again.

Pat bent his head back. "Shit," he muttered.

"So...what do you do now? He's got to put in twenty thousand more chips to call. There's already more than a quarter million in the pot. It's really a phenomenal price, but he's actually not getting the right odds to call even with that. He's got a five percent hand. Not even five percent!"

"There are no good cards for Pat on fourth street! He catches a heart, he still needs two more for a flush. He catches a...a ten or a king, he still needs two more cards for a straight. He pairs his queen, he's still way behind. All he's going to do is catch a card that might give him some showdown value, which will just motivate him to put even more chips in the middle that he's not getting back! He's gotta fold. But will he?"

"Why do I...why did I..." He grabbed his cards and tossed them over to the dealer.

"And...an absolute gift from Pat Daughtery. Six-bet folds a raggedy hand. Takeru picks up a big pot, courtesy of a tilted veteran."

OOO

Tanaka Nyugen rubbed the side of his head, looking down at the five silver and gold chips still in front of him. "You know, making this final table was like...like a bucket list thing for me."

"Can Tanaka ever fold here? He's got...he's got less than two big blinds left, the pot is four hundred thousand, why is this even a decision?"

"It's not a decision, he...he's just mad. He's mad, he knows he's behind, he knows he might be drawing dead, he...he's mad that he played ace eight suited in the first place, he could have folded preflop, but now he's too involved and he's got too many chips in the middle to fold."

The board contained four cards so far. Ace of diamonds, king of spades, queen of diamonds, five of hearts.

"I...I almost folded this preflop, but...can't fold now." Tanaka stood up and started pacing around. "Why do I feel like I'm drawing dead?"

"You know, Takeru...with all the chips he has, wouldn't he do this if he had something like...jack something of diamonds or ten something of diamonds for a combo draw? Is it really such a guarantee that Tanaka is behind here?"

"It's possible, but...Takeru betting on a draw here doesn't make a ton of sense, because it looks like he has no fold equity. He might do this with jack something of diamonds, but I think it's pretty likely that he just takes a free card. This looks like he has a made hand, and it's made in a way that's a lot better than top pair. And it is, Takeru has kings and queens."

"I told myself I wasn't going to play non-premium hands." Tanaka put his hands up behind his head. "I'm gonna hate myself if I call and he turns over ace king or jack ten."

John Schultz looked up at the dealer. "Clock."

Tanaka gave John an annoyed look. "Come on man, you're not even in the hand, what are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" John looked back over at the agonized player. "You have fifty thousand chips left, you have...less than two big blinds." He pointed at Tanaka's chip stack. "If you have ANY piece of that board, you HAVE to call, we all know you have to call, you're just...trying to get TV time right now."

"Schultz...stepping a bit out of line there."

"Yeah, I think calling the clock is fine, this is kind of silly for Tanaka to be taking this long, but discussing strategy with someone in the middle of a hand is really not appropriate."

Tanaka shook his head, then grimaced as he looked down at the table. A man in a black suit came up by the table, vaulting the rail.

"Alright, clock has been called, you have sixty seconds to make your decision. If you have not made a decision after sixty seconds, your hand will be declared dead," the man said, coming to stand next to Tanaka.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Okay." He took his last remaining chips and tossed them in. "I call."

Takeru turned up his king of hearts and queen of hearts. With a resigned look of defeat, Tanaka revealed his ace of clubs and eight of clubs.

"Top pair for Tanaka, but two pair for Takeru is in the lead! Unless Tanaka can river an ace, eight, or five, he will be out of the tournament and we will have our final table!"

The dealer, with a moment of hesitation for dramatic purposes, put down a ten of spades.

"The river card is a ten, that will not do it, Tanaka is out in ninth place! And we are down to the final eight, we have a final table!"

Tanaka slowly stood up. "Good luck everyone. Have fun." With a forlorn looked, he reached underneath his chair and grabbed his backpack.

"Yeah, Tanaka was kind of put in a bad situation there, he felt compelled to play the suited ace, and then he flopped top pair and felt he had to go with it, but he kind of knew he wasn't beating anything."

With a wave over his shoulder, Tanaka leapt over the railing and departed into the crowd.

"You know what I feel like?" Schultz looked over at Takeru's growing stack of chips. "I kinda feel like we're all...like those non-playable characters in a video game, you know?" He pointed at Takeru. "And he's the main character, and we're just...like, here to be props for him or something."

"That's a...an interesting way to put it from Schultz, but he's got something of a point. Takeru's dream world series now includes a final table in fifty K horse, perhaps the most prestigious of all final tables!"

OOO

Takeru looked around the table intently, back and forth between two opponents. To his left, Linus Jacobson, five silver and gold chips out just past the yellow line in front of him. To his right, Vanessa Hitchens, a single small platinum chip placed out before her.

"Well, he's giving this some real thought. I'm sure he's going to call this, but he seems to suspect something."

Takeru looked back down at his two cards. Still the jack of spades and jack of hearts.

"Takeru has pocket jacks on a nine six three rainbow flop, he's got to commit one hundred thousand chips into a pot that is already seven hundred and thirty-five thousand chips large, why haven't his chips already gone across the line?"

Takeru rubbed the side of his face a couple times.

"I guess Takeru can see his opponents' hole cards. He's getting over seven-to-one, this should be an easy call with the overpair, but Takeru isn't biting. Vanessa three-bet before the flop, and now she's raised the flop, so he must be putting her on aces or kings."

"He'd be right on that, Vanessa Hitchens has pocket kings. And Linus Jacobson has two sixes, so he has flopped middle set, meaning Takeru has the worst hand and the lowest equity."

Takeru whisked his cards over to the dealer.

"And he lays it down!"

Takeru immediately stood up, turning around and walking over slowly towards the railing separating the floor from the audience seating, going over to his section of friends.

"Most people wouldn't be able to fold an overpair getting seven-to-one, but Takeru wasn't getting the right price to call, and he figured it out. It's almost not fair for these other players. Takeru is getting good cards, taking a lot of pots, and then, just when it seems like they might finally have him stuck in the middle of a cooler, he loses minimal chips and folds early."

"Folded jacks," Takeru said quietly as he crowded up next to Ken, Hikari, and Sammy, everyone leaning in closer to him.

"Great fold," Ken muttered. "Hard fold."

"But it was definitely the right fold," Miyako said. "I mean...Vanessa has queens at worst, right?"

"I was thinking that, yeah," Sammy replied.

"Yeah, easy for you guys to say from the rail, try doing it in the heat of the moment! Folds like that are why Ishida sits at the big boy table, and these guys are watching from the sideline!"

"I raise." Linus threw out a platinum chip to go alongside his stack of silver and gold ones.

"Meanwhile, action proceeds. This is another reason why folding was so good for Takeru, it was going to get incredibly expensive for him as the hand went on."

"Oh yeah. Vanessa is pot-committed, by the way, she has like...three hundred thousand behind. She can't even consider folding."

"Two hundred." Vanessa put out another platinum chip.

"I feel like one of them has a set," Takeru said, keeping his voice low and bending his head over the railing. "At least one of them. Maybe one has kings and one has aces, that'd be pretty nasty."

Linus adjusted himself in his chair. "Alright, I...I think we both know where this is headed," he said. "Let's just get it over with." He fired out another platinum chip.

"Right there with you." Vanessa plunked other a similarly sparkling chip.

"Both players know that Vanessa is committed to this hand, so they're going to forgo theatrics and just get all her chips in the middle. Meanwhile, Takeru is still by the rail, feeling pretty good about that fold he just made."

"I would have had a hard time folding the flop," Daisy admitted. "Like, just let me take a look at the turn card, then I can fold, but...I would have called." She pointed over Takeru's shoulder. "Look at all this action going in though, it would have been such a disaster."

"I knew I was crushed," Takeru said.

"Okay, please have queens," Vanessa implored, turning over her pair of kings on the felt after the last of her chips were in.

"Sorry to disappoint." Linus showed his pair of sixes, good for a set that was well out in front. Vanessa nodded.

"I...I can't get off kings, I...I was hoping for queens or jacks." Vanessa shrugged. "Two outer, right?"

"I folded jacks," Takeru said, coming back over to the table. "Just now."

"You've got all the chips in the world, and you're folding an overpair?" Linus said, giving Takeru a bit of a surprised look. "I'll believe it when I see it on television."

The turn card, the queen of hearts, followed a river card of the two of clubs, Vanessa's head ducked a bit, but she quickly looked back up and smiled.

"Sixth place, more than most people can say," Vanessa said, going over and shaking Linus's hand. "Good hand."

"Unfortunately, you're standing next to the five people who can say more than that," Harold Fisk joked.

"Yeah, good point, I should go somewhere else." Vanessa stuck her hands in her pockets and walked off towards the exit tunnel.

"Tough flop for Vanessa, she had to love her kings on that board, but she's now out in sixth. We have five players left, and all five of them are guaranteed a payout of at least one million dollars!"

"Omaha." The dealer announced after kicking off the randomizer by her right hand on the table. "Two rounds of Omaha."

Takeru sat back down at the cards got distributed to each player.

"With five players now, each round is five hands, so two rounds is ten hands. Antes are ten thousand, blinds are twenty-five and fifty thousand. Chip average is over three and a half million. Takeru is still our chip leader, although he's been a little more anonymous so far at this final table than he had been earlier, he's got six million. Harold Fisk is trailing the field, he's down to eight hundred thousand chips."

"Linus folds quickly, Schultz folds behind him, and Takeru's on the button. Pretty much raising with any four cards here."

Takeru slowly peered through his dealt hand. Eight of clubs, eight of spades, five of clubs, five of spades.

"He's double-paired and double-suited. Not an amazing Omaha hand, but pretty good. He can raise here, try to pick up the pot, and if he gets called, he might hit the flop."

Takeru bounced out a platinum chip into the pot, raising.

"Fisk has a look down at...he's got two queens, a jack, and a ten. Also double suited, he's got queen jack of hearts and queen ten of clubs. Very good Omaha hand, Takeru will certainly get action from Fisk. Will we see a three-bet?"

"I don't think so. If Fisk three-bets, he's mostly only going to fold out worse hands and get called by better hands. If he raises, he'd probably just pick up the pot now, which is fine, but I'm not a fan of letting Takeru get the chance to four-bet. Fisk would probably have to fold if that happened, and that's a bit of a game theory disaster."

Fisk flicked out a platinum chip, reaching in to take back his small blind as well.

"He calls, and Brock Mosquin folds the big blind. Two players to the flop, Fisk a two-to-one favorite give or take. Three hundred grand in this pot."

The dealer, with a couple of taps on the felt, put out three cards. Nine of spades, seven of diamonds, six of diamonds.

"Nine seven six, what a flop for Takeru! Wow! He's flopped a straight, the second nut straight, the only hand that's beating him right now is ten eight, that'll turn the tables real fast! Fisk has a draw to the nut straight, he needs an eight in order to make a bigger straight than Takeru, and he also holds the overpair with the queens."

Fisk, needing only a moment, threw out five chips, making the required bet of fifty thousand.

"Interesting donk bet from Fisk. He likes that flop, he's got a gutshot and an overpair, but I would have preferred a check, since Takeru is likely to be betting no matter what. It's not horrible, but I just think he's killing Takeru's bluffs while also dumping chips into his value hands."

Takeru tossed out a platinum chip, raising to a full six figures.

"And this is why Takeru folded those jacks on the last hand. He knew there would be a better spot, that there would be better hands, better situations. He's been immediately rewarded with this one, flopping a straight against a short stack. And Takeru hadn't been getting many good cards at this final table, so parting with those jacks must have been all the more hard. This is the patience that poker players need."

Fisk called, reaching back and taking his bet back, replacing it with a platinum chip.

"How much do you have left?" Takeru asked, leaning his head up and looking at Fisk's stack.

"I have...six twenty behind," he answered.

"Takeru is trying to figure out how much he can win this hand. Now, there are some pretty interesting turn cards here. An eight would basically make Takeru's straight worthless, and he'd know that, but he'd also have three eights and could go for a full house on the river. What would Takeru do if the case eight pops out of the deck?"

A queen of spades appeared on the board.

"That's another interesting turn card! Fisk turns a set of queens, improving his hand significantly, and also gives him an open-ended straight draw, improving his draw significantly! He can now hit any eight or any king to make a bigger straight than Takeru's. He's still an underdog, but he now has an entire world of outs. I think it's all going in here."

"One hundred." Fisk fired out a chip, eager to bet his improved hand.

"Neither player is even considering folding. This hand will go to the river. Takeru's hand will hold up on the river sixty-two percent of the time, so there are many chances for Fisk to crack Takeru's straight."

"Two." Takeru threw out two chips.

"This could be the one, eh?" Fisk stood up, waving his hand forward. "Raise."

"Looks like both players are pretty much agreeing to juice the pot right here. No sense in playing around, neither player can consider folding, each one takes turns raising until all of Fisk's chips are at risk."

"Alright, I'm drawing dead against ten eight," Takeru said, turning over his hand after all the bets had been exchanged.

Fisk leaned forward to look at Takeru's cards. "No, you're ahead, but...I'm live."

"Fisk is very live, he's got over a third of the deck as outs. Here we go. Fisk needs a queen, nine, seven, six, eight or king to win this hand. Any other card, and we're down to four players! Off to the river!"

The room came alive with applause and ambient sounds as the drama of the situation was revealed to all. Slowly, the dealer burned a card before putting out the ace of spades.

"No good for Fisk! He's out in fifth, he can not crack the straight of Takeru, and his great tournament is at a close! Takeru actually made a qualifying low hand with that river, not that he needed it."

"Well, at least I went out dramatically, right?" Fisk said, shaking Takeru's hand. "Just when I thought you were cooling off a bit, I have to go and re-invigorate you."

"Yeah, thanks," Linus said dryly. "Flopping a straight with that hand, unreal...tough way to get the axe."

"I didn't want action, I can't lie," Takeru admitted. "Wanted to pick up that pot, but...accidental genius, I guess."

"Call it what you will, Ishida will gladly take the infusion of nearly one million new chips! Four remain in the fifty K horse!"

OOO

"You know, this is exactly what I wanted," Linus mused, stroking his chin as several men carrying large titanium suitcases emerged from the exit tunnel, surrounded on all sides by men and women holding large rifles. "When this day started, this is exactly the opportunity I was hoping for."

"Linus Jacobson looks hungry, ladies and gentlemen. As the money gets brought out to the table, Linus is staring down his opponent. We are just about to kick off heads up action between Linus Jacobson and Takeru Ishida. A twenty-year veteran of the professional poker circuit and two-time bracelet winner has the chance to take the biggest bracelet and biggest payout of his life. But a world series rookie, having the run of the century, holds the chip lead!"

Takeru took in a deep breath before slowly sitting down in the chair on the left side of the table. "Wowee."

"Takeru looks nervous, and who can blame him? This is a ridiculously big opportunity for anyone, but for a person his age, this is practically inconceivable. He's got about twelve and a half million chips. More than two to one. But you heard Linus. This is what he wanted."

Bricks of cash were placed down on the felt, one by one, by four men, unloading the contents of their briefcases. Each one only increased the weight of the moment.

"We are looking at four million, four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, in cash, being put out on the felt. One of the biggest cash prizes in poker. And it's going to one of these two gentlemen. Daniel, who do you like here? What do you think's going to happen?"

"Well, Linus was among the many professionals who were vocal about their belief that Takeru wasn't going to finish strong in this tournament. Clearly, that's not the case no matter what happens here, even a second place finish is good for over two and a half million dollars. But if Linus can come from behind here and take this bracelet, he'll certainly take some measure of satifaction from backing up his talk."

With all the money on the table, along with a glinting bracelet atop the mountain of cash, the men left, leaving a couple armed guards to protect the money while it possessed no owner.

"We're gonna lead off with Stud. Stud Hi, no low hands, bring-in will be fifty thousand chips. Takeru has twelve point five million, Linus has five point three. Daniel, do you think Linus might be taking this a little personally, even?"

"I'm not sure if personally is the right word here, but...you know, he does seem like he's a little defensive about this tournament. He wasn't the only one."

"Stud." The dealer said, looking back and forth at the two players. "High hands only. Ante is twenty thousand. Bring-in will be fifty thousand, bets will be two hundred thousand, doubling on fifth street." With that, she began dealing out a hand.

"And if you look back at some of the hands earlier today, I think a few players definitely tried way too hard to outplay Takeru. Pat Daughtery was definitely guilty of that earlier, Desmond Jennings might have lost some chips earlier trying to outplay him...this is limit poker, it's really hard to outplay someone. It's really hard to get someone to fold a good hand, no matter how much pressure you put on them, because of the limit on betting. You're just always priced in. Just try to make good hands and get value out of them, and then try to minimize losses when you're behind."

Takeru put out the bring-in chips after he was dealt a five of hearts face up, lower than Linus's jack of diamonds.

"When you're heads up, you can play more hands, and play more aggressively with marginal holdings. You don't want to fold unless you've been dealt something with no potential at all. Linus looks down at...a nine of diamonds and three of clubs in the hole."

Linus looked over at his chips for a moment.

"The jack is alright...he's got two diamonds...that three is a real buzzkill for this hand though. Probably not bad enough to fold, but do you limp or complete?"

Linus grabbed five purple chips and put them out in front of him.

"Linus limps in. I think I would have completed the bet there, Takeru only has a five showing so he could easily just fold to a bet and you can end the hand right there."

Takeru looked at an ace of hearts and three of spades.

"So, ace three five for Takeru, two hearts, fun hand, and he can play it for free. Probably the right thing to do as well, fold if you brick fourth street."

"Okay, let's go with it." Takeru patted the table a few times with his palm.

"Takeru's voice was a touch shaky there, you can tell this is a pretty big moment for him."

"I'm interested to see what happens here. Neither player has a great hand, both pretty marginal, first hand of heads up. Will someone try to steal this pot on forth street?"

Takeru was dealt a king of clubs, Linus picked up the six of hearts.

"Neither player improves, Takeru leads with ace high still. What should happen here?"

"Well, someone needs to stab at it eventually. May as well be now, the price doubles after the next card. Takeru...Takeru has checked over to Linus, so he won't be the one stabbing. A bet might pick this pot up, and Linus knows he needs to chip up."

Linus gathered together two platinum chips and flipped them forward into the pot.

"He will take a shot at the pot here, two hundred thousand back to Takeru. And he will take a few moments to consider his options, arms crossed on the edge of the table in front of him."

"This should get through, and...this is how Linus can win this match, a bit at a time. As long as he doesn't go crazy and think he can make it all up on one or two hands, he can pull this off. This is going to take awhile, but it can be done, he just has to be patient."

Takeru grabbed four platinum chips and tossed them forward into the pot.

"Wow! Good instincts by Takeru!"

Linus immediately gave a look of annoyance, glancing up towards the ceiling, lips tightly pressed together.

"Takeru is bluffing with the best hand, by the way. Linus has jack high, Takeru has ace high, he thinks he's bluffing, but he's actually got the best hand. Nice move."

Linus fired his four cards over to the dealer, sending the pot to Takeru. "Insane, this is just insane, this is insane," he muttered under his breath.

"You are looking at a man who is just tilted out of his mind, that's not a good sign for his chances."

"Yeah, this is exactly what can't happen, he...he's clearly annoyed that Takeru just caught him trying to steal the pot, it's not even...it wasn't that many chips, it's just getting outplayed and getting read."

"Well, in poker, you have to keep your mind on what's happening next, and off of what just happened. He's still got five million chips."

Linus paid the bring-in after getting an eight of spades dealt to him, Takeru trumping it with a queen of hearts.

"You know, for all that Takeru looks nervous and should be nervous, that was a pretty smooth play by him. Good read, good trap."

Takeru took a long drink of water before looking down at his down cards. Jack of spades and king of clubs.

"Takeru's got the royal family, rainbow, very nice starting hand."

"I complete." Takeru put out two platinum chips.

"Linus now owes one hundred and fifty chips if he wants to continue on, and he's got...seven of hearts and two of clubs."

"This would be a hand to fold. Just not enough good things can happen with a hand like this, just lose the minimum and move on."

Linus grimaced for a half-second, looking over at Takeru. Finally, with several seconds of consideration, he slowly plucked four chips from one of his stacks and tossed it forward.

"Oh...oh no, Jacobson has raised to four hundred thousand with squat, he's...how many times will these players try stuff like this against Takeru?!"

"Here we go, Linus is trying to outplay Takeru, and it's just not going to work. This is exactly what Linus couldn't do if he wanted to win this match, there's no need for this right now!"

Takeru put in two platinum chips, remaining in the hand.

"And now, Linus is going to have to bet anything on fourth street here, doesn't matter what it is, and just hope the hand ends, such a bad spot to be in. Takeru will call if he picks up any card ten or bigger, he might even raise if he pairs up."

Takeru was dealt the king of hearts, face up, and Linus caught the ace of diamonds, also visible to all.

"Well...now what? Takeru's hit a pair of kings, but Jacobson catches an ace that MIGHT be intimidating to Takeru. If Jacobson has an ace in the hole, he'd have the best hand right now, and the way this hand has gone, that's pretty believable."

Linus grabbed two platinum chips and tossed them in.

"Mandatory continuation bet by Linus at this point, I think, absolutely had to bet. But there's no chance Takeru is folding a pair of kings."

Takeru ran a single platinum chip through his fingers a few times, slowly dancing it along his knuckles.

"Well...he'd hate to give Linus life by getting deep into a pot where he's got the best hand. He'll at least consider it."

"No, he can't even ponder folding. He's paired his top card, even if he's up against a pair of aces he's priced in. He's just putting on a little acting performance."

Takeru, with a grimace, threw in two platinum chips.

"And this is nice. Because now, Linus pretty much has to bet fifth street now. He's keeping his bluffs alive. He can get at least one more bet out of him now."

The dealer tossed Takeru a ten of clubs, and then gave Linus the queen of spades.

"Takeru picks up an open ended straight draw, an ace or a nine gives him a straight. Linus still has nothing, nothing but ace high. Time to give up?"

"Takeru just has so many big cards showing, Jacobson should realize he's got something good enough to not fold. At worst, he's got a naked straight draw, he wouldn't fold that for one bet."

Linus, however, snatched up four chips and flipped them into the pot.

"Yeah, I...he's just caught up in trying to outplay Takeru right now, nothing else to it, if he stopped for a second and thought about it he'd realize this is a bad idea, Takeru has to have either a pair or a draw at this point, and he's just not going to fold either."

Takeru tapped his fingertips along the surface of the felt a few times, thinking.

"I raise." Takeru reached down to grab at one of his stacks of platinum. Before he could even gather eight chips together, however, Linus had angrily grabbed his cards and slapped them down over to the dealer.

"And...and Takeru couldn't even get his chips in the pot before Linus threw his hand away! Well played by Ishida, he let Linus hang himself on multiple streets and got maximum value out of his bluff!"

"Freaking unreal, this is...this is insane," Linus grumbled, looking down at his dwindling chipstack.

"You know, I actually think...I think Takeru thought that Linus had something he'd call with. He was willing to push things with a pair and draw, I think he wanted to build a pot."

"Whatever his thoughts were, he's sliced out a huge piece of Linus's stack, and is well on his way to a historic bracelet!"

OOO

~Hikari~

Takeru was leaning his back up against the rail, head leaned back, Hikari scrabbling her fingers across his scalp.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God..." Takeru's eyebrows were flickering up and down.

"Look at this guy," Ken said, grinning as Hikari massaged his head. "I haven't seen you this nervous since you were trying out for the Kaydem team your second year at academy."

"Oh, you think I was more nervous then?" Takeru said, a bit of a laugh in his voice, eyes rolling up to look at his friend. "You think I was more nervous then? You kidding me?"

"It's debatable." Ken shrugged. "I mean, that was kind of a big deal for you then, you were thirteen, remember?"

"I might be about to double my bankroll and tie the single year bracelet record. Trust me, I'm more nervous now!" Takeru said almost indignantly. "You know, you're pretty good at this, Hikari."

"I've never done it before," she replied. "Don't really know what I'm doing."

"I feel like I'm watching an intimate moment between them," Sammy joked, pointing at Hikari and Takeru. "Like, we should all leave the room and let them be alone."

Takeru raised his right hand up, extending his middle finger to Sammy for a split second before dropping his hand back to his side.

"Nothing to be nervous about, master," Hikari said. "This bracelet is yours, you just gotta blow on this guy and he's gonna fall over."

"I'm just...he just spewed like half his stack to me," Takeru said. "Can't believe how this played out." He pointed up at Hikari. "And I told you not to call me that, I'm at least thirty years too young for that kind of talk."

A moment later, Linus Jacobson emerged from the entrance tunnel, walking briskly towards the table.

"Alright, here we go." Takeru peeled away from Hikari's fingers and similarly made a beeline back to the table.

"Man, I played so bad this heads up," Linus muttered as he sat back down in his chair, looking up at the dealer. "So, so bad. I'm gonna be sick for a week." He shook his head.

"How much you have behind?" Takeru put out his big blind, two hundred and forty thousand chips.

"After the small blind...so little that it doesn't even matter." Linus put out a platinum chip along with two silver and gold ones. He began to count what he had left. "I have...eight hundred forty."

The dealer put out two cards, face down, to each player.

"He's got three and a half bets left," Daisy said quietly. "Come on, pick up something and just go with it, let's get this done fast."

Hikari rubbed her hands together nervously, feeling the extreme gravity of the situation as Linus looked down at his hand.

"Okay. I'll raise." Linus got together three platinum chips along with six silver and gold ones.

"Come on, have something, let this be the one," Daryl muttered. "This could be the hand, if Takeru calls it's going in, come on..."

Takeru, very slowly, looked down at his two cards. He swallowed down hard, then slowly nodded. "I raise."

"Herewegoherewegoherewego," Akira hissed. "It's happening, come on, come on."

Linus sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I know I'm behind." He scratched the back of his neck. "It'd be crazy to fold. But I'm behind." He grabbed the remainder of his chips and slapped them across the yellow line. "All-in."

"Call," Takeru announced, immediately standing up and turning over the ace of diamonds and ten of clubs. With a small nod, Linus revealed the ace of spades and three of spades.

"Yup." Linus slowly got to his feet. "Well, spades...straight...three." He shrugged. "At least give me a fun flop."

Takeru put his hands up behind his head, nostrils flaring, eyes trained on the dealer.

"He's got him!" Akira said. "Domination, come on, clean flop. Come on."

Slowly, the dealer gathered together three flop cards, putting down a queen of clubs, two of spades, and nine of hearts.

"Backdoor straight, backdoor flush..." Linus shrugged. "You know, I guess I just don't deserve to win this bracelet." He looked over at Takeru. "I don't deserve it, what can I say?"

Takeru didn't reply, focused entirely on the cards to come.

"What is it, seventy three percent?" Hido said. "Holy shit, this is...wow."

"Just give me the four of spades on the turn for the sweat," Linus said. "I don't even care if I hit the river, just...make it interesting. Don't give him the ten of hearts, please, at least let me be drawing live."

The turn card, the six of diamonds, was no help to either hand.

"Just gotta dodge that three," Hikari muttered.

"Yeah, I don't deserve this," Linus said, resigned to defeat. "You're...you're something else, man, I gotta say it." Linus nodded. "God, this is disgusting. Can't believe I did this to myself."

Finally, the dealer put down a river card. Ace of hearts.

"AHHHHHH!" Takeru yelped, immediately putting his hand over his mouth after releasing the unplanned outburst. A hint of embarrassment flashed on his face for the briefest of split-seconds, and then, unadulterated shock took control yet again.

Hikari knew the routine by now, and vaulted the railing in front of her, quickly followed by everyone else. Takeru went over and shook Linus's hand, a brief interaction between the two, before pandemonium ensued. Ken practically rammed into Takeru , driving him towards the table, pushing him back onto the stacks of cash. Takeru fell back against the money, some of the bundled piles scattering down to the floor.

Sammy reached forward and grabbed Takeru's hand, pulling him back to his feet and into an emphatic chest-bump. It was a thrilling series of chaotic actions, Hikari trying to find ways to be involved. After a scattered series of physical interactions, Takeru finally got free enough to grab the ever-important bracelet and raise it up into the air above his head. 


	23. Merging

Chapter 23: Merging

"See, this is pretty good." Hikari pointed at the large green bottle on the table, half-empty. "This, I can see why people would drink this, I like this."

The room was hanging in that limbo between the end of a rousing party and the cleanup, with various items of trash littered about on table surfaces, and garbage cans filled to the top with the remains of a celebration. It was somehow satisfying, to see the evidence of a good time had, things slightly out of position and imperfect.

Now, only three people remained. Of course, the man on top of the world right now, Takeru, seated in the chair closest to the sliding glass doors out to the balcony, with a half-full glass of the pink liquid in front of him. Hikari, sitting with her back to the staircase that led up to the bedrooms. And, on the side closest to the door to the hotel room, Yamato Ishida, only roughly familiar to Hikari, sat.

"I have to say, this...this relationship you have with her, it's fascinating," Yamato said, pointing over at Hikari. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Look, you haven't been here," Takeru insisted. "If you...if you saw the results that I've had when she's watched compared to when she wasn't...I mean, you wouldn't take any chances. Trust me."

"No, not even that...I mean, sure, that part is weird too, but, listen to her talk, you know?" He nodded. "The things she says, the way she says it, it's just not what you expect."

Takeru took a sip from his glass. "She has managed to surprise me over and over again, and...well, I'd hate to be the guy who suppresses an interesting person from being interesting."

Yamato had a look around the room, noting the disheveled nature of it. "Wish I got here a couple hours ago, looks like it was a good time around here."

"So, what, you got the news that your brother had just won fifty K horse and just...jumped on your jet and made full speed for here?" Hikari asked, intertwining her fingers in front of her face, resting her elbows on the table.

Yamato snorted. "Yeah, right, I'm only here because I happened to have a concert in town tonight." He pointed over at his brother. "Like I'm coming all the way out here for him, this is just convenient for me. I almost turned around and left immediately when I realized the party was over." He smirked. "But really, congratulations. You're finally making enough money to be considered a credible Ishida."

Takeru leaned over a bit on the table. "I'll say this much. I remember, a long time ago, I began to understand that we were a wealthy family, that...that most people...in fact, nearly everyone else, didn't have the luxuries that we did. So, in coming to understand why that was the case, I kind of realized that my father was...one of the best in the world at what he did."

"Not that there are a lot of casino owners in the world," Yamato countered, shrugging. "But sure."

"Even amongst all business owners, dad's one of the best in the world, look at what he built!" Takeru insisted. "And then, a few years ago, when you started to make it big, selling albums like crazy, selling out venues, becoming world famous, I realized, you were one of the best in the world at what you did."

"Oh, wow, finally, recognition from my brother, I know I've made it now," Yamato said, somewhat wryly.

"Hey, I'm not going to question your results, can't do that." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, when that happened, I realized that...I really needed to be the one of the best in the world at whatever it is I ended up doing. Like, it's a lot of pressure, but with you and dad, I just felt this real...drive to make sure that, whatever I ended up doing, I would be great at it." He tapped his left index finger on the face of the bracelet on his right wrist a few times. "And I knew I had given myself a chance at it, but now...now, now I know. Those first six weeks, it was great, but this...this is beyond all reasonable doubt."

"You would have been disowned if you didn't," Yamato said, raising his empty glass towards Takeru. "So I'm glad it happened eventually, at least."

Takeru stood up. "Girls still asking about me?"

Yamato rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah." He swallowed. "And I don't appreciate it, you're killing me here." Yamato stood up as well. "But I guess you can't help it. You're an Ishida, so it's inevitable." He meandered over towards the couch in the middle of the room, Takeru casually following him.

Laid out on the couch were packs of cash, in large collections of one hundred thousand each, thick rubber bands holding them together. Yamato leaned over to look at it.

"See, this is the one thing where I actually envy your profession." He pointed at his brother. "I don't get paid in cash anymore, haven't gotten paid in cash since I was starting out." He pointed down at the money now. "This, maybe I've been paid more money at one time before, but actually getting it all in cash, this is the one thing that makes me think, being a poker player would have been pretty cool."

"Well, they don't give you payouts like this just for playing," Takeru said. "You have to win, not so easy."

"Hey, I have a little game," Yamato said. "I got a little something. I'm gonna do the main event this year. You think they might stick us at the same table?"

"Nah, that'd be too scandalous." Takeru looked down at his winnings. "Be fun though." He looked over at his oxygen bed. "I'm thinking about putting all of this in my bed tonight. I'll have it deposited tomorrow morning, but...maybe I'll just sleep with it tonight."

"Shit, if you do that, I might just have to join you in there."

"Not even gonna touch that one," Takeru replied. "Seriously though, it's good to see you around." He wrapped his right arm around his older brother. "Maybe I'll see you at the main event. Just stop limping in with weak aces and you might manage something good."

Yamato stepped back over to the table, grabbing his glass of champagne. "I'll finish this off and get out of here." He paused for a moment. "You know, dad really tried to be here for the final table."

"Oh, I know he can't get out here, busiest man on the planet. I talked to him on the phone after it was over, I...I get it." Takeru nodded. "I know he wanted to be here, but I know he's watching, it's fine."

Yamato guzzled down the remainder of his glass. "He thinks that your work at the world series is improving business, things are up right now." He set the glass down, stuck his hands in his pockets, and began walking towards the door to the hallway. "Whatever happens now, you're the man."

Several silent seconds passed as Yamato made his way to the door, casually departing the room, swinging the door shut gently behind him. As soon as he was out, Takeru exhaled loudly and slowly crumbled down to the floor.

"Holy crap, I'm exhausted," Takeru muttered, Hikari getting to her feet and going over to him. "What a freaking day. Holy crap."

"Should I start placing your money in the bed?" Hikari said wryly.

"No, you...you did enough work today," Takeru replied. "Wow, this is...I'm pretty much set for life now."

"Well, don't retire now," Hikari said. "You have so much good stuff ahead of you."

"No, no, obviously not, I mean...now, I can pretty much get in whatever I want to. When the world series is over, I'm gonna get invited to the...television shows, and the high rollers, the super high rollers, the...everything is open now. Before this, I could have easily just been some kid who ran hot for awhile, whatever, one million plus in tournament cashes isn't that big a deal, but now...now I get into ALL the games." He looked up at Hikari. "You'll come with me, right?"

Hikari shrugged. "I mean...I have to do whatever you tell me to do."

Takeru nodded. "Right, I...I keep forgetting that." He looked away from her, over at the wall across from him, then suddenly pointed his right index finger up at her. "But the way you said that, I don't know if I like that. The way you said that."

"If you want me there with you at every poker game you play for the rest of your life, I will be there," Hikari said. "This might not be saying much, but...watching you win is the most fun I've ever had in my life." She bent down and helped Takeru stand up. "Alright, let's get you in bed. Still some more tournaments to play out, you may as well finish strong."

OOO

Hido turned over his four cards. King of spades, king of diamonds, jack of spades, ten of diamonds.

"Wow, what a hand," Takeru said, standing up and putting his hands up on the railing. "Crazy hand."

"Uh, a set of kings...flush draw...gutshot straight draw, wow, is he a favorite?" Miyako looked up at the cards being projected on the hologram about the table.

"No, it's...he's a small underdog." Ken rubbed his chin. "Ton of outs though."

Koushiro's cards, the jack of clubs, ten of clubs, nine of hearts and eight of hearts, connected slightly better with the board of the eight of spades, seven of spades, king of clubs, and six of diamonds.

"They split the pot if a nine comes, unless it's the nine of clubs," Daisy said. "I'm kind of rooting for that, a nine, keep Hido alive and Koushiro keeps the chip lead." She thought for a moment. "Any eight, seven, king, six, spade wins...non-club nine ties, wow."

The dealer put down a river card, the five of clubs, upgrading Koushiro to the jack high flush, confirming the hand ending in his favor. Hido leaned his head back and gave a bit of a groan, then quickly snapped his head back and went over to Koushiro.

"Well, I'll say this much...it was gonna take a hand like that to knock him out, the way he was playing, he was finally really locked in."

Hido gave Koushiro a quick handshake, then took a few steps towards his friends at the railing. Before he could cross the floor, however, he was intercepted by Erin Parker.

"Good evening, Mister Sasaki, you got a quick minute?" she asked.

"Sure," he replied.

"Alright, we've just lost Hido Sasaki, world series rookie, from his first final table. Twenty-five Thousand High Roller Pot Limit Omaha, you're out in eight place, you take home a cash of two hundred twenty-one thousand six hundred and fifty dollars. Hido, it's got to feel nice to have your best result in one of the last tournaments of the world series, in fact, third to last."

Hido shrugged. "Maybe that, maybe...maybe I peaked too late, maybe I'm rounding into form about a month later than I would have liked. But I played good, I'm happy with it, it was some good experience, I'll use it as a building block for the future. I'm in the black for this world series, so that's good."

"Talk me through that last hand, you had nearly half the deck as outs, has to hurt to see a brick roll off."

"Well, once I flop the set of kings, I know I'm committed to the hand. I'm getting short on chips, no way I can get off it. I would have gone all-in right there if it wasn't pot limit. I kinda knew I was behind after the turn card came, but even if I am I know I have outs, so...you just have to hope you get there."

"Hido Sasaki, a very good day for him, he profits nearly two hundred thousand dollars." With that, Hido walked off towards the rail.

As he approached, everyone in the area broke into applause. Hikari, looking around at everyone, decided to turn towards Hido and begin applauding as well. Hido briefly looked around and basked in the congratulatory environment, then caught Hikari out of the corner of his eye. He froze, then snapped his head over towards her, looking at her as if something was growing out of the top of her head.

She continued to clap, drawing all of Hido's attention as he continued to give her an entirely bewildered look. Finally, he shook his head and turned away.

"Freaking weirdo," he muttered, vaulting the rail and landing in the seating area. "So, as it winds to a close...I finally do something."

"I told you, you can play, you're a good player," Takeru insisted. "You just got to be patient, wait for some good table draws, wait for good cards, and go for it."

"Oh, if only I could have hit that river," he grunted. "I honestly think I would have finished top five at least if I had doubled up there."

"You know, I believe you," Daryl replied. "Real nice run. I'm glad you could join us on the good side of the profit line, it's amazing that we all managed it."

"Alright, let's...let's watch this play out," Takeru said. "I gotta stick around and see if the self-proclaimed bad tournament player can win a second bracelet."

Hido settled himself down on one of the bleacher seats. As play resumed out on the table, Hikari saw him give her a look out of the corner of his eye. With a cheeky smirk, she turned back to watch the action in front of her.

OOO

~Takeru~

"Really, I...I don't get it."

As it had been frequently in recent times, Takeru's hotel room had become the hub for a get-together of friends. It was almost beginning to feel dull whenever there wasn't some sort of party going on within the large room. Takeru was seated in the middle of the couch, right behind which was a large table of food and drink, and several people were milling about the room and out on the balcony. To Takeru's right was Hikari, who was enjoying a kebab, and on his left was seated Hido, who was looking over Takeru at the brown-haired girl.

"I mean, not that I give a shit, don't get me wrong, but...what's your deal?" Hido asked. "Seriously, I...I nearly killed you, I nearly killed your brother, I put both of you through hell for six months...not that I regret any of it, because you and your brother are both worthless garbage, but...what's wrong with you? You think we're friends now, or something? Because TK has gone completely off his rocker and lets you sit around all day and watch him play poker, and because he lets you hang around us, we're friends now? Because, I'm serious, you had better not be thinking that, because it's not the case."

"Not at all," Hikari replied, setting her kebab down on a small paper plate. "Don't worry about that, I think you're a shithead."

Takeru, who had been in the middle of a sip from a glass bottle, nearly spat out what was in his mouth, lips quickly sealing down to prevent such an outburst, just barely managing to keep it from coming out of his nose. Hido seemed to flinch a bit, then rubbed the bridge of his nose with his finger.

"But, everyone else was clapping, it looked like fun, so...whatever," Hikari said airily. "My life is good now, I'm trying to...have fun."

"You gonna let her talk to me like that?" Hido looked over at Takeru, who had finally recovered and swallowed down his beverage.

"Uh, well...I don't consider you a shithead," Takeru said. "But, given the...history between you and her, everything that happened...I think it's reasonable for HER to say that you are, so I think I have to allow it."

"Wow." Hido gave a dry laugh. "Am I gonna have to deal with this the rest of my life if I remain friends with you?"

Takeru, bored with the subject, turned around and pointed over at Koushiro, who was standing over by the doors out to the balcony. "Hey, Koushiro, I think there's been a mistake! Remember, you're a bad tournament player, right? You shouldn't have those bracelets, give em back to whoever you took them from!"

Koushiro wore a shiny, jewel-crusted bracelet on each wrist, one for his victory in the Heads Up Championship, and the other for his most recent triumph in the High Roller Pot Limit Omaha earlier that day. Koushiro could only give a small shrug.

"I read a couple books about tournament play, what can I say?" he replied. "And I made sure I had some...extra motivation."

"You made more bets?" Daisy asked, coming over from the food table with a plate of halibut. "More bracelet bets?"

"I was able to squeeze out some action on me winning a second one, yeah," Koushiro replied. "I got phenonenal odds on it, and I kind of felt like I was on a freeroll after winning the first bet, so...yeah." He pointed down at his new bracelet. "This little baby was worth a lot more than two and a half million to me."

"Man, I consider myself to be a gambler, but...I'm jealous, really," Ken said, standing in the general vicinity of Takeru's oxygen bed. "You are just the...the pinnacle, just perpetual action, I wish I had your stones."

"Stones is an interesting way of putting it," Mimi countered, coming in from the balcony. "And if I was an uninvolved thirt party, I might be able to call it that as well."

"What, I won, didn't I?" Koushiro protested, taking a sip from a glass bottle in his right hand. "Come on, give me something for that one, that was a bold move, and I reeled it in."

Mimi went over to Koushiro's side and patted his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, you're the best, I know."

"Holy shit, you seeing this?" Daryl, holding a small black device in his hands with a screen on it, jumped up from his seat and went over to Ken. "You just made the GPI, buddy, you see this yet?"

Ken leaned over, looking at the screen that Daryl was presenting to him. "Freaking finally, they should be updating faster during the world series." He rolled his eyes. "TK got listed with way less winnings than I have right now."

"What are you at, actually?" Akira asked, pulling a similar small black device from his front pants pocket. "One point one profit?"

"One point two," Ken answered. "One point two million."

"Delicious," Akira replied. "Yeah, is everyone in this room in the black?"

"Does zero dollars count as being in the black?" Mimi asked, raising her hand up in the air. "I'm at zero!"

"Actually, it does," Yuma said with a bit of a laugh. "Sometimes, the winning move is to not play."

"Are you keeping track?" Sammy asked, looking over at Akira. "I'm at seven hundred and thirty thousand, I think, I should be on that list by now."

"Well don't act like it's a contest or something," Daisy said, looking around the room. "Come on, we're all good friends, we're all happy for each other, right?"

"It is a contest!" Sammy insisted. "It's a contest, we just happen to all be winning."

"Yeah, but there are different levels of winning if it is a contest," Miyako countered. "And, if my math is correct, ole TK over there is at six million, so I think we all know who has a leg up on the levels."

"Well, my six million sort of pales in comparison to a certain lunatic and his side bets, who happens to be in this room right now," Takeru said. "Just saying, I'm...I've got nothing on Prodigious."

"Tournament winnings only though, you're stomping everyone." Daisy went over towards the couch. "And not just in this room."

Takeru couldn't deny that, and gave a short nod. "Okay, I can grant that." He stood up and turned around. "Alright everyone, remember, this party is for a lot of different things, so feel free to blast off and get it all out of your system. We're celebrating Hido's final table, Koushiro's second bracelet, AND it's a farewell to the world series." He raised his bottle. "We've all got one event left, let's all crush it, go out the right way, and take all this into the next phase of our careers."

"Actually, I have two events left," Koushiro announced. "I'm doing One Drop."

"Oh, thank GOD," Takeru said immediately. "That event without you would have felt empty, you're gonna make that event twice as fun just by being there."

Koushiro nodded. "I've just made so much money here, I...I'd feel like a bit of a nit if I didn't do it. It's a fraction of what I've taken in so far. And it's an opportunity to blow the ceiling off my bankroll in one day, I gotta go for it."

"See, that's the spirit, I knew you had it in you," Sammy said. "I knew you were just the kind of guy who could say something like that." He pointed at Koushiro. "I was disappointed when you beat me heads up, of course, but in the back of my head, I was thinking...I hope this at least motivates him to do One Drop."

"I might be the only person in the whole tournament who's not a billionaire who's doing it without any backers," Koushiro added. "If nothing else, it makes for a great story, this crazy gambler taking on the biggest tournament in the world with all of his own money."

Ken sat down on the backrest of the couch, reaching over to grab a small bag of gourmet popcorn from the table. He twisted his body around to look at Takeru. "Hey, you should take the hint. You should do One Drop."

"No, I shouldn't," Takeru said, spinning around and sitting back down on the couch.

"Oh, come on, you've got the winnings for it, you've got plenty of money to do it." Daisy joined in on the goading, coming over and sitting on the left armrest of the couch. "I dare you to do One Drop."

"I dare myself to not do One Drop," Takeru replied tartily. "You...you dare me, what does that even mean? I'm not doing it, it's crazy."

Hikari perked up, looking over at Takeru. "What's One Drop?"

"It's the second to last tournament of the world series. The Big One For One Drop. Million dollar buyin," Takeru answered. "Maybe next year, maybe."

"Hey, buddy, let's consider what's coming to you in a couple weeks," Ken suggested. "You're a mortal lock to win world series player of the year, which comes with a million dollar prize." He waggled his eyebrows around. "That means you're on a freeroll."

"No, no, no, that is NOT a freeroll," Takeru protested, shaking his head. "That isn't even close to a freeroll. I worked very hard to put myself in position to win player of the year, and doing One Drop and not cashing would mean I lose the entire cash prize from winning player of the year, that is NOT a freeroll." He set his bottle down on the table in front of him. "Look, people with way more money than me...way more poker winnings than me, they don't do One Drop."

"You know, after I signed up, One Drop had ninety-nine participants," Koushiro offered. "You join, we're at exactly one hundred."

"Can't say no to that," Ken continued to push. "Ninety million dollar prize pool, you don't want a crack at it? This isn't the TK I know."

"Guys, come on, I don't have the bankroll for it." He looked over at Hikari. "Look at this, it's so easy for these guys to be telling someone ELSE to spend their money on a million dollar buyin, to them it's just all fun, but...when you're the one who has to post up the million, it's a different animal. Only billionaires do One Drop without backers."

"Alright, fine." Ken spun around and leaning down over the couch, putting his forearms on the armrest, looking over Hikari's lap. "I'll take a piece of your action. I'll do ten points."

"Well, there's no action to take a piece of, so...ten points of nothing is nothing." Takeru gave a wry smile. "Can you believe these bunch of psychos?"

"I'm dead serious," Ken insisted. "Dead serious. I'll take one hundred thousand dollars from your buyin for ten percent of your cash. If you don't cash, it's on me."

Suddenly, Daisy raised her right hand up in the air lazily. "I'm in for ten points."

Takeru rolled his eyes. "Daisy, that's...that's almost twenty percent of your world series winnings so far."

"Yeah, whatever happens I'm a winner." Daisy shrugged. "Could be a big reward, I'm on. Hundred thousand." She looked around the room, putting her hands out to her sides and moving her fingers around. "Come on, guys, what do we got?"

"Stop it," Takeru whined. "These people have worked very hard to carve out winnings at this world series, I don't want them to risk what they've gotten on me. Seriously, it's fine, I've got one tournament left, I'm happy with it."

Takeru turned around, opening his mouth again, then closing it as he saw everyone in the room begin to gather together and whisper amongst themselves.

"See Ken, look at what you've done now," Takeru said, waving around the room. "You've got the whole room buzzing about a big nothing."

"You know I'm in for that," Sammy said quickly, raising his hand in the air. "I'll take ten points."

"I don't need all of my best friends hating me, it's not worth it," Takeru said.

"We're not gonna hate you. It's an investment. If you cash, we win money too, it's a risk." Daisy shrugged. "We're all rich, come on, don't act like we're betting the mortgage on it."

Takeru gave a little laugh. "Our parents are rich, there's a difference. Come on, it's gonna leave a bad taste in your mouth if I do it and don't cash, why risk that?"

"Five points," Miyako suddenly said, raising her right arm up in the air. "I'll take five points, I hit some nice cash in the High Roller Holdem a few days ago, I've got some money to play with." She pointed her thumb at Yuma to her right. "He's in for another five."

"If I'm not doing it for a million, I'm not doing it for six hundred thousand either," Takeru insisted.

"Okay, then...come on, everyone, he MUST have a price," Ken goaded, waving around the room. "Let's get this kid into One Drop!"

Takeru rolled his eyes. "Oh brother."

"It's a hundred person tournament, top twenty get paid, and it's all no limit Holdem," Daisy said. "A chunk of the field is made up of amateur billionaires, you said that yourself, it's not that bad." She looked down in front of her at Hido. "Come on, buddy."

"Hey, I haven't had an amazing world series over here," Hido said defensively. "Sorry if I don't have cash to burn."

"See, this guy knows what's up," Takeru said, pointing over at Hido. "This guy gets it."

"You're just gonna let everyone else get in on this and be completely left out?" Daryl went over to the table behind the couch. "You're gonna feel like an idiot if you don't get in and he cashes." He looked at Takeru. "Me and Akira are splitting five points. Two and a half each."

Takeru leaned back heavily into the cushion of the couch, sighing loudly, giving up on his protests.

"I can do...I can do a point," Hido said. "Ten grand, and even that's probably a mistake, but...I'll take a point, which may as well be nothing."

"Ooh, I'll take another four," Ken said suddenly. "I'll go to fourteen. We're at fifty total now."

"Can someone please just announce they're joking?" Takeru asked. "I just want this to be over, because I'm actually being forced to consider this now."

"I'm LITERALLY incapable of hearing all this and not being involved," Koushiro suddenly said, coming over to grab a handful of cuts of meat from a meat plate. "I'll take ten points."

Takeru squinted, spinning around to look at Koushiro. "But you're...you're IN One Drop."

Koushiro shrugged. "So? I can still stake other players, gives me two chances to get some money. Trust me, there won't be any softplaying if we end up at the same table, don't even think about that."

"Dude, you HAVE to do it now," Sammy pleaded. "You've got sixty percent of it backed, that's pretty standard for professional players in tournaments like this. Don't just wait for next year, just go for it."

Takeru blinked a couple times. After a few moments, he shook his head. "Thank you, very much, everyone, really. It's great you guys are being so generous, I'd love to be there, but...four hundred thousand on one tournament, it's...can't do it. Sorry."

"What WILL you do, then?" Daisy asked. "I know you, you have to have some price, what is it?"

Takeru grimaced. "I don't even want to say, because I don't want you guys to give me any more money, this is already ridiculous as it is."

"Well, just say it," Ken implored. "You might as well, we've come this far in the conversation. Just say it."

Takeru tilted his head around a few times, enjoying the temporary silence of the room.

"Look, I...I mean, I shouldn't even be doing this, but I guess I'd be getting a reasonable ratio if I sold fifteen more percentage points."

"Just what I wanted to hear."

Takeru glanced over to his right, seeing Ken, holding his portable assistant in his right hand and tapping his left hand's fingers across the surface.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Takeru asked, looking at Ken's device. "Whatever you're doing, I don't really like it, please stop."

"You don't even know what I'm doing, what the hell do you think you know about whether or not you like it?" Ken paused for a moment, looking down at the screen. Suddenly, an audio feed clicked in from the device.

"Manager's Office."

Takeru thought he recognized the voice, although he couldn't be sure due to the imperfect audio quality. Before he needed to mentally debate it, Ken replied.

"Mister Ishida, good evening," Ken said.

"Oh, for the love of..." Takeru stood up, holding his hand up towards Ken. "Gimme that."

"Oh, hey, Ken, what's going on?" The connection cleared up after initial rough quality, leaving absolutely no doubt as to who it was who Ken had contacted.

Ken began to slowly back away as Takeru approached him. "Hey, Mister Ishida, we've got a bit of a business proposition for you. I'm gonna pass you on to my partner here." As Takeru got up close to him, Ken heaved the device up over Takeru's head, launching it across the couch, into Daisy's waiting hand. Takeru turned around, frowning, hands on his hips as Daisy continued the conversation.

"Well, I...not quite sure what...what is it?" Hiroaki asked.

"Your son really, really wants to play in a poker tournament tomorrow, but he doesn't quite have the scratch for the buyin. So we've all been scrapping together our lunch money, and we're a bit short. Could you chip in?"

Takeru rolled his eyes, but made no movement towards Daisy as she colorfully sold the situation to his father.

The line was silent for several seconds. "U-uh, well...this some kind of joke?"

Daisy gave a little grin. "N-no, sir, it's...it's One Drop."

"Oh, I've seen the promotional stuff for One Drop on television. The million dollar one?"

"Right," Daisy replied. "We, uh...your son is being a nit and doesn't want to do it even though he's walked on water in this world series so far and can afford it. We've been kind enough to buy up more than half of the buyin amount, he's still being a tightwad, so how about it?"

"Ooh, and let's remember one thing." Akira suddenly stuck his face up near the device. "Backers get credited for their portion of the buyin, and ten percent of buyins go to charity, so there's a tax writeoff in it for you as well."

Hiroaki gave a little laugh. "W-well, what are we talking here? What's he need?"

"For the very reasonable price of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, you can entitle yourself to fifteen percent of Takeru's action," Daisy answered. "The prize pool for the tournament is ninety million dollars, and Takeru stands to win as much as twenty-five million two hundred thousand dollars."

"And if I fail to finish in the top twenty and cash, you take a one hundred and fifty thousand dollar bath," Takeru added, coming over so his voice could make it through the connection. "And your charity donation would be fifteen thousand dollars, so that tax writeoff isn't doing anything for you. Now, please say no, so all of this madness can—"

"Sure, I'm down for that," Hiroaki said. "One fifty, just tell me where to send it."

Takeru froze, mouth hanging open. Robotically, he closed it, blinking dumbly.

"W-...wait, what?" Takeru stared at the black device in Daisy's hand.

"Sure, one fifty, why not?" Hiroaki said. "You're just playing so good, it's gotta be a good investment, and...you're all the way out there, I want you to do as much as possible."

Takeru stuck out his lower lip a bit, still not really reacting.

"Sound good, son?"

"Uh, yeah." Takeru's voice had gone a little meek. "Sure, I'll...send you the information you need."

"Alright, good luck, I'll be watching." The connection went dead, and Daisy tossed the assistant back over to Ken.

Everyone in the room looked over at Takeru, who was just standing there by the sofa, hands on his hips.

"Oh come on!" Daisy burst out. "TK, I will literally go get my old cheerleading uniform from academy and do my routine behind your seat for the entire tournament if you do it!"

Despite it all, Takeru couldn't help but give a chattering little snicker at the bizarre offer, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Well...I have to go, I suppose," Takeru said, with a small shrug.

"Freaking FINALLY," Ken snapped. "You're treating it like some kind of torture chamber, it's only the biggest poker tournament on the planet, you're acting like we have to twist your arm." He went over and slapped Takeru on the back. "Come on, ride the hot streak!"

Takeru nodded. "Alright, One Drop, then. Sure." He gave a thin smile.

OOO

~Hikari~

"Good Lord."

Takeru's body was sunk deep into the couch cushions, body splayed out across all three seats. He was rubbing his forehead.

The room had been vacated, the remnants of the party left in their wake as all visitors had gradually exited the chamber to head back to their rooms. Only Hikari remained behind with her owner. She was seated on the armrest of the couch, watching her seemingly agonized master.

"This whole thing just keeps getting crazier, I'm woozy," Takeru groaned. "Holy crap."

"You've got some great friends," Hikari said, eyes trained on Takeru's head as he rubbed it.

"I actually get to play in One Drop," he muttered. "I'm twenty years old, I just became a professional poker player, and...wow, pinch me."

"Just enjoy the moment," Hikari suggested. "Don't think about things too hard, just have fun."

"Oh, I...I will," Takeru slowly swung his legs over the edge of the couch, coming up into a sitting position. "They started doing this tournament eight years ago, and it was always kind of the...the dream to just be in it one day. That one day, you'd have the bankroll to participate in a million dollar buyin tournament."

"And here you are, so it's great," Hikari said.

"Man, so many...so many people though, so many people counting on me, I always...you know, I've always played poker with my own money. And it's not even a big thing, people borrow money and get staked all the time, it's part of the game, most people do it from time to time, but...I just never played big enough games to where I needed to, I sort of prided myself on it." He tilted his head a bit. "It's crazy, because...if I cash, it's incredible, because I make money and so do all my friends and my father, but...if I don't, it's so gross. I lose a quarter million, and all my friends and family who bet on me lose money too. So extreme either way."

"Don't sweat that side of it, they can all afford it, and they're doing it because they have faith in you and your abilities. You've earned that, you've been doing so good."

Takeru nodded. "I know, but...lot of pressure." He scratched his temple. "Wow. I thought this had already peaked for me, but now...whole new level."

"Alright." Hikari stood up, going over and reaching her hand down towards Takeru. "Let's get you in bed. Gotta sleep."

"Good plan." Takeru got to his feet. "I'm gonna need it." 


	24. High Stakes

Chapter 24: High Stakes

"You've seen the best players in the world fight it out over high stakes over the last two months, but now, it's time for the highest stakes on the planet! Ladies and Gentlemen, we are minutes away from the commencement of the annual Big One For One Drop!"

Ten fully-manned poker tables were grouped together in a large floor area, with plenty of room between for observers to weave through. Uniformed dealers were armed with fresh decks, ready to deal out one of the most pressure-packed tournaments on the planet.

"It is seven in the morning here on this lovely day, the world series drawing to a close, but it has two last final explosions, and are they ever big ones. Today, we see perhaps the most unique tournament in the world. Ten years ago, a man by the name of Alec Tremblay had accomplished enough for a hundred lifetimes. Starting out with an interest in show business, Tremblay became deeply involved in performance arts, and eventually formed a performing troupe by the name of Les Échassiers. This travelling circus act became one of the biggest draws on the planet, now employing over ten thousand people, with activities across the glove. Thanks to his vision, Alec made millions, which quickly turned into billions. The man became one of the first people ever to travel to space as a tourist, he owns his own island that he has turned into an entirely self-sustaining disaster shelter, and he created One Drop, one of the biggest charities in he world. So what does a man who has already done everything do?"

"Well, Alec had already had an interest in poker, and frequented the highest stakes he could find, always willing to play a game with millions on the line. So, around ten years ago, he tried to figure out if he could put on the most expensive poker tournament on the planet while also securing millions in donations to One Drop. He came to the World Series Directors, and offered to pay all expenses for a one million dollar buyin tournament, if they would agree to have the typical ten percent rake donated to One Drop. They gave a tenative thumbs up, dependent on Alec managing to find at least thirty-six people willing to participate. He eventually did, and now, every year, we have The Big One."

"Looks like Director Jack Custer is about to say a few words before the tournament begins."

Out in the middle of the collection of tables, a man in a black suit stood up tall, a thin microphone up to his face.

"Good morning, everyone, it's a real pleasure to see everyone here," Jack began. "Alright, we're a minute or two away from beginning The Big One For One Drop, the biggest buyin tournament in the world. All of our contestants here today have bought in for one million dollars. This year, we've gotten one hundred entrants, a new record for The Big One, which is wonderful to see. Thank you to Alex Tremblay, as always, he is paying for everything in this tournament, the space, the dealers, the floormen, and he'll be playing as well."

Over on table six, a short man wearing a baseball cap stood up, waving to the room and being greeted with thunderous applause.

"And I'd be remiss to forget that ten percent of all buyins have been donated to the One Drop Foundation, meaning that we have gotten ten million dollars to One Drop just by having this tournament. As I'm sure you all know, One Drop is a charity dedicated to the development of technology to create more drinkable water, as well as the providing of drinkable water to the less fortunate parts of the planet, so this tournament has already done amazing things before we even start." He cleared his throat. "Now, the prize pool for this tournament is a record, ninety million dollars, breaking it's own record from last year, and I'm sure everyone is ready for a shot at a piece of it, so...let's shuffle up and deal."

Immediately, the dealers all began to scramble freshly-opened packs of cards on the felts in front of them.

"And we are getting underway here, we're doing coverage of table number four. We have ten tables of ten players each, so it's a tad bit more crowded than the typical nine players per table setup, but more than managable. I'm joined by Aaron Busk in the commentary booth here, Aaron, what must it be like, a tournament like this, a seven-figure buyin?"

"Well, I'd like to say I can answer that, but...I can't, I've never been in a million dollar buyin tournament before."

"So few have. In fact, less than one hundred and thirty total people have ever played in this tournament, most of the participants are people who do it every year."

"Yeah, this is an entirely new level of insanity. Obviously, there are dozens of official High Roller tournaments in the world, with buyins between twenty-five thousand and ninety-nine thousand. And then you have the Super High Rollers, all tournaments that cost more than one hundred thousand, there are quite a few of those. We have...I believe, two three hundred thousand tournaments right now, and there's one with a half a million dollar price tag, but this is obviously, by far, the biggest show there is."

Cards were dealt out to each player in turn, the dealer quick to get all ten players their hole cards.

"It's definitely a deep stack tournament. Each player starts with three million in chips, and blinds start at three and six thousand, so you have five hundred big blinds. In theory, deeper stacks mean that talent and skill have a better chance of being the deciding factor. But we are playing No Limit Holdem, so even with that, one or two hands where you get hit by bad luck can really sink you."

Harold Roth looked down at at the six of diamonds and three of spades, folding quickly.

"We also have a one thousand ante to start, so it's a rare tournament where we have antes from the first hand. Uh, white chips are worth one thousand, red chips are ten thousand, green chips are twenty-five thousand, blacks are one hundred thousand, purples are half a million, and platinums are one million."

Players around the table folded in order.

"Uneventful first hand so far, Jason Madden is out, Carleigh Marchione is out, Takeru Ishida folds...Aaron, given the unique dynamic of this tournament, what do you expect will happen that's different from other tournaments?"

"Well, it's an interesting setup. Having antes from the very start really builds big pots, so there's definitely more out there if you wanna steal preflop. But it also means you have to commit more in order to make it an effective steal. Under normal circumstances, if you want to pick off the blinds, you might just raise it to fifteen thousand or eighteen thousand, but because of the antes, you'll probably have to make it closer to thirty thousand to make it an effective steal. If you get called, there's just more risk."

"Twenty-five." Nolan Cross tossed a green chip out.

"Yeah, I just can't see the blinds folding to a raise like that, unless they have total junk, you're just priced in."

OOO

"One of the really cool things about this tournament is that every single player in it has an interesting story, so I really like examining their profiles. You don't have any...random tourists who rolled into The Horseshoe last night and decided to sign up on a whim. Everyone here is either very, very good at poker, very, very rich, or both, and they all have fun backgrounds."

Takeru folded his two cards over to the muck, sweeping them towards the dealer.

"There aren't many stories more interesting than the one of Takeru Ishida right now, here in seat seven. He's twenty years old, he's got three bracelets under his belt already, he's got world series player of the year locked up, and he's right around six million dollars in world series winnings already!"

"Plus, twenty-four hours ago, he had no idea he was going to be in One Drop. We spoke with Ishida a bit earlier."

OOO

Takeru, from the large cushioned chair in the plain room that had become so familiar, had his arms resting flat on both armrests.

"I had every intention of watching The Big One For One Drop from the sideline, of course, but playing it in was...never even a consideration." He nodded. "I was mentally preparing myself for the Main Event, I was thinking today would be kind of be my first day off in a while, but...me and my friends started talking last night, actually, and...we came up with a scenario where I almost had to go for it. They bought up pieces of the buyin, my father bought some, and...suddenly, it was a feasible possibility. It was a very borderline situation, and I decided that, since it was close, I should just do it while the opportunity is there."

"The Big One is a really cool thing, the idea of ten percent of your buyin going to a foundation as good as One Drop, it really makes you feel good. I didn't know how I would feel once I had put down the buyin, but knowing that, no matter what, I gave a hundred thousand dollars to a charity, that really does make you feel good. I think that element has attracted a few players who otherwise wouldn't have played."

"Oh yeah, there's a lot of pressure on me," he continued. "Most of it placed on me by myself, I...a lot of my friends and my father staked a portion of the buyin, so I'm playing for all of them. If I don't cash, they'll all be pretty bummed about it, I'm sure. Of course...the reward for winning, all the more sweet."

OOO

"Really fascinating group of friends he has, by the way. Ken Ichijouji has fourteen percent of his action, that's the heir to the IchTech technology empire...Daisy Scott, daughter of the famous supermodel...I could sit here all day and just talk about this group of friends. They all met at academy eight years ago, and grew up learning poker together. Takeru claims that they play a cash game at least once a week, every week. Now they're all taking the world series by storm."

"Wait, you're telling me this guy gets to play poker with Daisy Scott every week?! That's it, I'm officially rooting for him to lose! Nobody deserves THAT much luck!"

Takeru looked down at the ace of hearts and queen of diamonds in his hand.

"He's been fairly anonymous so far in this tournament, hasn't played more than one or two hands yet, I think he'll play this one. Aaron, is the money causing some players to tighten up a bit?"

"It's early. We're still on the first blind level, hasn't even been an hour yet. Also, a small consideration should be made for the size of the tables. Obviously, it's a small difference, but it's slightly harder to steal and slightly harder to go into hands without great cards, knowing that you have one extra opponent, the odds of someone really having something good goes up by a bit."

Takeru grabbed a green chip alongside five white chips, tossing them out into the middle.

"That's a thirty thousand chip raise from the cutoff, opens the pot, hopefully buys the button...and it does, Nolan Cross folds."

"But, I mean, sure, the money has to affect things a little bit, particularly for someone like Takeru."

Barry Lewis, from the small blind, looked down at the eight of clubs and eight of hearts.

"Lewis with two snowmen from the small blind, pretty obvious spot to defend. Lewis, always seems to be around for any High Roller event, of course he won't be missing the ultimate High Roller."

Lewis tossed out a couple white chips along with a green one, matching the wager.

"When you say someone like Takeru, how do you mean that?"

"Well, he's not a billionaire. Obviously, he has a significant amount of money, and he comes from a wealthy family, but this isn't just something he's doing for a rush. In fact, even after selling most of his stake, his bankroll situation relative to what he bought in for might be the worst ratio of anyone in the tournament. It's impossible to know for sure."

Dolph Shayes, considering a defense of his big blind, held the eight of spades and eight of diamonds.

"Shayes with...heh, he's got pocket eights as well. That's a bit unfortunate. No opportunity of flopping a set for either player. Someone shuffle this deck."

"Makes this a really good spot for Takeru. He'll have position on two players who are extremely unlikely to make big hands, he might be able to pick this one up without having to make a hand himself."

Shayes reached in and took back one of his white chips from his blind, replacing it with a green one.

"Three to the flop. One hundred and nine thousand already in this pot. Do you think Takeru being in this tournament is a mistake?"

The dealer placed out three cards. Four of hearts, nine of hearts, jack of spades.

"It's hard to say. He's won, what, six million so far just from this world series, he's due an extra million from winning player of the year, but he'll lose a bit of it to taxes, so...say it's six million total, is that his whole bankroll? Risking a quarter million on one tournament when your bankroll is six million is...a little suspect, but not completely terrible. But you figure he had to have a bankroll before the world series started, so is the actual number...ten million? Then I think it's pretty reasonable."

Lewis and Shayes both tapped the felt a few times, checking to Takeru.

"And I don't think players have to strictly obey the rules of bankroll management when a rare opportunity presents itself. Someone like Takeru, he probably shouldn't be buying in to quarter million dollar tournaments every week, but that's clearly not the case. I think him being here is fine, but he's clearly going to be affected by the money more than almost anyone else."

Takeru grabbed a green chip and a red chip, tossing them casually into the pot.

"Takeru makes it thirty-five thousand. Kind of small relative to the size of the pot, but in a pot that's already this large, it's still just as effective as any other bet would be."

"There's also an argument that this tournament is a good investment for a skilled player, and Takeru clearly is that. It's a hundred player tournament, twenty cash, the game is No Limit Holdem, and there are certainly some weaker players in this field, so I'd argue it's profitable for a really good player to be here. It's certainly got nothing on something like fifty K horse."

After several moments of thought, Barry Lewis put out the two different colored chips.

"I don't want to say some of the players here are bad, I think everyone here is a solid player mostly, but there are definitely people in this field who have weaknesses that can be exploited by elite players, so...I can see it from that angle too."

Dolph rubbed his chin, staring to his right at the two players who he was contesting for the pot.

"Bet and call in front of him, what's Dolph Shayes thinking here?"

"Well, Takeru can have literally anything. You figure he had, at least, a good starting hand, but he might have a hand like the hand that he has, and hasn't paired up yet. But Lewis kind of has to have something to call the bet. Of course, that something could easily be...hearts, could be queen ten or ten eight for a straight draw, could be pocket sevens, so there's no guarantee that pocket eights is behind whatever Lewis has. I'd probably fold, but I don't hate calling. If he raises, he could win the pot, but tough to imagine him realizing that."

Finally, Dolph tossed out two chips, the two clattering down into the pot.

"That's a call. Pot is a...significant size now, two hundred and fourteen thousand chips."

"This is a great spot for Takeru if he barrels again on the turn. There's really no turn card that can improve Lewis's or Shayes's hands, since all eights are accounted for, so both players are going to be left with a middle pair against continued aggression, which will probably force a fold. If he does fire another bullet, then I think he can pick this one up."

The turn card was produced, a king of hearts.

"And that's a great card for Takeru to continue bluffing. He's got the nut flush draw now, any heart on the river completes it, and he's got the straight draw, needs a ten."

Lewis tapped the table.

"Barry checks. Giving up?"

"Well, if one of them wants to win this pot, I think they needed to turn their eights into a bluff. That turn card is horrible for a hand like two eights. Straight gets there, flush gets there, hands with a king in it now have a bigger pair. I feel like checking is basically turning your hand face up. Kind of giving up."

Shayes checked as well, pointing his finger down towards Takeru. "To the bettor."

"And Takeru can semi-bluff with impunity here. He's got the ace of hearts, so he knows that nobody can have the nut flush, so he can easily represent that he already has the nut flush. He's got a queen, so he's got a blocker to the most likely straight, he's even got an overcard for good measure. It's a LITTLE scary to try bluffing again when you get two callers, but I think it makes sense."

Takeru fired three green chips out into the pot.

"Seventy-five grand, little less than forty percent of the pot...horrible spot for Lewis and Shayes, I have no idea what either of them should do. They're crushed by any value hands that Takeru has, possibly drawing dead. They can beat any stone cold bluffs. And semi-bluffs have so many chances to get there on the river, that even if you hero call a semi-bluff, it's not that great."

Lewis looked back down at his two cards again. Finally, he zipped them over to the dealer, folding.

"Lewis folds, I think it's the right thing to do. If you call, you're facing another bet on the river one hundred percent of the time, so getting out now is smart. He's also got Shayes behind him, and...I guess Shayes could be slow-playing a monster, you don't want to call and then have Shayes raise."

Dolph covered his mouth with his right fist, staring over at Takeru.

"You know...Shayes could reasonably call now that Lewis is out. It's a little better now, makes at least a tiny bit more sense. Lewis was the one who had to have something, Takeru can still have air. Can he call?"

"Only if he also plans to call the river. Well, call any river that isn't another terrible card for his hand, folding on a rivered heart, ace, queen, ten...see, part of the problem with calling is that half the possible river cards are bad."

Shayes fired his two cards over to the dealer.

"I think that's prudent. Get out of harm's way, there are better spots."

OOO

~Takeru~

Gripping the lapels of his suit jacket tightly, knuckles turning white, Takeru turned away from the table, taking a few slow steps away.

"I'd hate to spew off more chips on the last hand before lunch," he muttered to himself, feeling the heat of every pair of eyes in the area on him. "Hate to throw away a winner right before lunch too."

Nolan Cross gave no reaction as he sat, eyes unfocused, looking in the general direction of the board of five cards. Six of spades, queen of spades, eight of hearts, king of spades, three of spades.

"Such a big hand, but I don't beat anything." Takeru turned around again and walked back to the table, leaning over his chip stack, again having a look at the board. "Alright, I...this is pure entitlement here, I...I don't have any real read."

He used his long fingers to gather together one black chip and two green chips, then slapped them forward on the table. "Top two pair."

"You don't have a spade in your hand?" Nolan asked, seeming to snap back into reality as soon as Takeru had made the call. "That's a great call."

Takeru felt his entire body loosen up as Nolan grabbed his two cards and threw them into the muck.

"Don't know how you made it, great call." Nolan could only grimace.

"Pure entitlement." Takeru flipped over the king of diamonds and queen of diamonds. "I was so mad when that fourth spade hit the river, and...frustration call." He gave a nervous laugh as the dealer pushed the pot over his way.

"Hoo, gonna be hard to get in the mood to eat lunch after that." Nolan stood up, leaning his head back. "Perfectly timed and executed bluff, and it doesn't get through."

Takeru turned back around and quickly walked over to the rail, finding his friends in short order.

"Finally, you really made a move," Ken said, pointing a wagging finger at Takeru's face as he came up to them on the rail. "Took you five hours, but you finally did something worth respect."

"Hey, you haven't seen my cards, you don't know what I'm doing," he protested. "I had ace high and two draws in that hand against Lewis and Shayes."

"I'm so impressed, bluffing with the nut blocker and a combo draw," Daisy said sarcastically. "Everyone knows to do that." She leaned in close to Takeru's face. "You look a little paler than usual, dear, and that's saying something, don't tell me these guys have you nervous."

"That was a pretty big hand just now," Takeru said, thrusting his head back towards the table behind him. "Four spades on the board, I call with no spade, I'm wrong I look like a dingus...and I just did it because I was annoyed at the runout, no logic, not a call I felt good making."

"Well, you won." Ken slapped his hand on Takeru's shoulder. "Lunch?"

"I'm not feeling like eating right now, honestly," Takeru said. "I don't know what I feel like. Just made a big hero call, I'm in a seven figure buyin tournament, I...so many emotions."

"Gotta eat something," Miyako insisted. "Maybe you gotta drink something, alcohol, get you to play more hands."

"Yeah, that sounds fantastic," Takeru said sarcastically. "There's only ninety million dollars in the prize pool, let's inhibit my ability to make good decisions."

"Well, I don't know about alcohol, but...you could stand to up your aggression a bit," Ken said. "What's the saying? Snug as a bug in a rug? Something like that?"

"Dude, I'm playing with your money, you should be happy I'm playing tight," Takeru said, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

"You and I both know that playing tight doesn't get you anywhere except on the bad end of a lot of long days with no payouts." Ken nodded solemnly.

"We all funded your buyin because we believed in your skills," Sammy agreed. "I didn't give you a hundred thousand dollars to watch you sit around and wait for premium hands, come on, play some poker."

Takeru gripped the railing in front of him tightly. "I have a gameplan, I do, I promise." He nodded rapidly. "So what's the status on the tournament?"

"Seventy-three players left. Antonio Arvin is the chip leader, got like nine million chips. Average is four point one million," Akira reeled off.

"Arvin won this event last year," Takeru muttered. "Holy crap, if he goes back-to-back. You know he funded at least most of his buyin too." He licked his lips. "I'm at three point seven million right now, I'm in great position, everything's fine."

"You know I believe you, man, you say you have a plan," Sammy said. "I just hope the plan isn't hoping you get dealt aces every fifth hand."

Suddenly, Takeru looked around. "Hey, where'd Hikari go?"

As soon as he spoke, Daisy and Daryl suddenly each took a step to the sides as a small female figure pushed her way through the crowd and up to the rail. She was holding a large plastic cup with a straw poking out of the top.

"I suspected you wouldn't be in the mood to eat," Hikari explained quickly, offering the cup to Takeru. "So I thought you should at least get something of meaningful substane." She shook the cup once out towards Takeru. "You like strawberry shakes, right?"

Slowly, Takeru took the cup in his right hand. "Thank you," he said. "That's very nice of you."

"Just, eat something at some point," Hikari said quickly. "Just signal me at some point during play, I'll run off and get a club sandwich."

"Nuh-uh," Takeru said, wagging his finger at Hikari. "This is One Drop, you're not leaving the rail during play. You send Yuma to get it."

"As you wish, master," Yuma said dryly. "You take my money to play in a poker tournament, now this?"

"And, do try to loosen up," Hikari offered just as Takeru was about to turn away. "Those who don't give action tend to not get action."

"Ooh, ooooh!" Daisy rocketed her right hand up into the air. "I taught her that one!"

"Very nice." Takeru took a sip from his milkshake as he turned back towards the table.

OOO

Takeru slowly placed his two face down cards next to each other in front of him, patiently considering his options.

"Aces for Takeru in the small blind, wow. Two red aces, nice opportunity for him to do some damage. He's got two players who have limped behind him, what's the right move here?"

"You have to raise, you can't even think about it, there's no other consideration. You're out of position, you've got three other players in the pot, there's no consideration of just calling."

Takeru grabbed five black chips from his chip mound, clattering them forward into the pot.

"Slightly more than three times the big blind, pretty reasonable. Yu Sandor in the big blind, he's got...king jack offsuit, should be a call, Takeru can get some action on the aces."

Sandor decided to play against flow, however, and folded his cards to the dealer.

"Wow, I'm...really surprised Sandor folded there, seemed like the perfect hand to see a flop with. Well, Harold Roth folds seven eight of spades, and now Solomon Hardy gets rid of five four of clubs. Both of them trying to sneak small suited connectors past with a limp, not willing to invest more chips with those hands preflop, and...kind of frustrating for Takeru there."

The pile of chips were sent to Takeru, who began stacking them.

"Well, it's not terrible or anything. There were three quarters of a million in chips in that pot, which is a significant boost to his stack at this point. He's now got six point four million. Picking up the blinds and antes is a big deal right now."

"Yeah, but...Takeru has been playing very patiently today, he's tightened up, that might have been his chance to double up and suddenly become one of the big stacks in the room. He definitely wanted at least one caller with the aces."

A new hand was dealt out quickly as Takeru finished stacking.

"Level fifteen of The Big One right now, it's getting pretty late in the day, nearly ten o'clock. Blinds are eight thousand and one hundred and sixty thousand, antes are twenty thousand. Thirty-five players remain. The money is in sight, but still a good distance away."

"Yeah, it's definitely too early to expect to fall asleep and just wind up in the money."

"We've got...Anil Kujan raising to five hundred thousand from under the gun plus two, he's got the king queen of spades. Prompting a series of folds from the table."

Takeru had a look down at the ten of clubs and two of diamonds after action folded to him, quickly folding. After this, he got to his feet, stretching his arms above his head as he turned around and slowly strolled to the rail.

"And Takeru will fold the button, and take a quick trip to the rail. Sandor's in the small blind with pocket sixes, he's gonna call, so we'll likely at least have a flop."

Takeru made his way over to the collection of seats right near the edge of the floor, where his friends were gathered. "Would have been a great time for someone to get out of line," he said in a low voice. "I just had aces."

"W-wait, you just folded aces on the button?" Daisy asked, pointing over Takeru's shoulder at the table.

"N-no, obviously, the previous hand," Takeru explained. "I'm not playing THAT tight, come on now."

"Takeru over with his friends, bemoaning his inability to get a bigger pot with pocket aces. Aaron, what kind of fold was that from Yu Sandor? Just for the record, Sandor is a billionaire businessman, so if anyone can make a somewhat loose defend pre-flop with a hand like king jack, it'd be him. It was obviously a correct fold, but kind of a surprising one."

"Yeah, it wouldn't have been a terrible call. He would have had position on Takeru, although he would have been out of position against anyone else if someone else had called."

"Well, you know what you have to do," Ken said. "You know how to punish them."

"I think it really was just the fact that Takeru has been playing rather tight in this tournament. Roth and Hardy also could have reasonably called with their hands, they chose not to, I think this is just an example of a player not getting action because they're not giving action. When a player who doesn't play very many hands suddenly plays a hand, it's kind of transparent that the player has to have something very good. So hands like king jack offsuit and small suited connectors become less valuable against the raise of a player who is only playing premium hands. And the players at this table are aware that Takeru is playing tight so far, so they correctly folded playable hands."

"Just do what you've been doing your whole life." Hikari reached forward and grabbed Takeru's right hand inbetween her two hands. "You say you have a plan, execute it."

Takeru nodded, going back to the table.

"Kujan continuation bets the flop, and Sandor folds. Kujan picks up the pot. Is it just the money affecting Takeru's play? Because he's been a rather active player in this world series to this point, he's been...about as aggressive as you would expect from a successful player in this day and age."

"I don't see how the money couldn't affect Takeru, it really is a big deal to him and his bankroll. This might be a tournament where Takeru isn't really thinking about winning, he's just thinking about making the top twenty. And I can't blame him, not cashing in this tournament is crushing. You'd just hate to open a pot from middle position with...five seven suited, then get called in two spots, and be stuck in a bloated pot without position where making the wrong move can literally cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in tournament equity."

Takeru sat down as a new hand was being tossed out.

"And whatever you want to say about his play, he's still got forty big blinds. It's a below average stack, but it's very playable."

"All that said, he's got two hours left in the day, we've still got fifteen eliminations to go before the money, it might be a smart time to widen the preflop opening range and maybe steal some pots. He's certainly set it up to do that."

Folds went around the table in short order, getting to Takeru in the cutoff.

"Nice opportunity for Takeru, nobody's opened the pot yet, and he looks down at...jack eight of diamonds."

Takeru placed the two cards down in front of him, considering his stack size.

"Well, Takeru just picked up a small pot with aces, so he figures, why not try to pick up another small one with the old jack eight suited?"

"He's got three players behind him, a raise can easily end the hand right here...yeah, I like it. Nice chance to use your table image."

Takeru slowly rifled through his chips, finally gathering five black ones along with a green one, clattering them into the pot.

"Five hundred twenty-five is the raise."

Yu Sandor, after a beat, looked down at the seven of diamonds and three of clubs.

"A much easier fold for Sandor on this hand, he'll throw that over to the dealer. Over to Antonio Arvin, he's in the small blind, and he's the big stack at the table, so he's got some chips to play with. He's got a little more than sixteen million in chips, nearly double the tournament average. And he's got..."

Arvin had a look down at the five of spades and the five of clubs.

"The two black fives! Seems like a logical spot to call."

"Yeah, Antonio can definitely call here and try to flop a set. And for Takeru, he wanted the hand to be over now, but jack eight suited is just good enough to where playing the flop isn't completely terrible."

Antonio reached into the pot, taking back his small blind chips, thinking hard as he gauged his stack. Finally, he took out a full stack of black chips, cut it in half, and then put the top chip on the left stack on the top of the right stack. This right stack went forward.

"And...Antonio doesn't call, he raises to one point one million! Kind of a surprise, seems like a spot to just call with two fives."

Haroth Roth, having a glance down at the four of diamonds and the two of diamonds, folding immediately.

"Yeah, unconventional line by Arvin, I guess he's just wielding his big stack, making life tough on Takeru, and this play actually should work out for him. For one, he can pretty much guarantee that Roth in the big blind has to fold, which is good, he doesn't want to play this pot three ways when he has a small pocket pair. Also, Takeru's current table image is tight, so even though he opened the pot, he might be opening with the plan to fold to a three-bet with a hand like ace eight or ace nine, maybe king ten. I don't hate it."

Takeru, arms folded one over the other on the edge of the table, motionlessly sat, deep in thought.

"And, the hand that Takeru has, he definitely has to fold now, Arvin is showing some real strength by three-betting a tight player from out of position. So by three-betting, Antonio gets to end the hand preflop a large percentage of the time, like I'm sure he will here."

Takeru slowly reached forward, taking the green chip he had placed out back, then replaced it with six more black ones.

"And...that might be even more surprising, Takeru calls the three-bet with jack eight of diamonds. He's mixing it up, a rather loose defend of his opening raise."

"Yeah, looks like he's shifting gears. Doesn't want to get pushed around. This is definitely a precarious spot for Takeru, he's got five point three million chips behind, and the pot stand at two point six million. He will have position, but he's definitely hanging on the edge of elimination."

"I don't love it from Ishida. Not a lot of flops that Takeru is going to feel great about. You know, both players are probably putting the other player on much bigger hands than they actually have."

The dealer, after burning a card, dealt out the king of clubs, eight of spades, and king of hearts.

"Takeru makes a pair of eights, he's got kings and eights. Arvin makes kings and fives. And I'd agree with that, the way Takeru has been playing this tournament, I would assume he's got something like...pocket eights, pocket nines, pocket tens...king queen, ace queen, ace jack, something like that. Certainly not the hand he has. And Arvin, Arvin can have literally anything after three-betting from the small blind."

Antonio blinked several times in succession, then pulled out another stack of black chips. After several seconds, he had a tower of twelve of them, which went into the middle.

"Antonio likes the paired board, it improves the odds that Takeru whiffed the flop and will now have to fold a hand like ace queen or ace jack. So he fires a continuation bet into the pot, hoping it ends matters."

Takeru continued to show nothing as he sat there, arms crossed, looking down at the board.

"Antonio Arvin is the reigning One Drop champion...Takeru is a world series rookie who's never played in a tournament even one-tenth this big...definitely a spot where it makes all the sense in the world for Antonio to try to push Takeru out of the pot."

Finally, Takeru gathered together a collection of black chips.

"I doubt Takeru loves this spot, but he looks like he's calling. Once you decide to commit chips with a hand like jack eight suited, if you flop a pair on a board like this, I think you have to call at least one bet."

Takeru dropped twelve black chips across the yellow line.

"Just shy of five million chips in the middle. Takeru has the effective stack, four point one million. He's definitely living on the edge here, although he does currently have ninety-two percent equity in this hand."

The turn card was the king of spades, giving both players a full house.

"That puts three kings on the board, and means Antonio Arvin is officially drawing dead in this hand, he can only hope to tie. Takeru has kings full of eights, Arvin has kings full of fives. Action to Antonio."

Arvin bit down on his inner cheek as he thought.

"Well, Takeru has just a tad less than a pot-sized bet left. There were no draws on that flop, so Antonio MUST know that Takeru has some kind of made hand. If Takeru has the case king, obviously he's never folding. If Takeru has a pocket pair bigger than eights, I doubt he's folding. And if he has an eight, like he does have...well, he might lay down to another barrel. What does Antonio want to do?"

Finally, Antonio patted the felt with his left hand.

"Antonio checks. He hits the brakes, good move."

"This is the downside of playing pocket fives so aggressively. If you don't make a big hand, and you don't end the hand on the flop, you almost have to surrender the pot. And it's a big pot to surrender. Arvin knows his pocket fives aren't good here, but he also suspects that Takeru has something he's not going to throw away."

Takeru raised his right hand up in the air a couple inches, then brought it back down on his left forearm, repeating the action a few times.

"Another check. We're off to the river. The case king or another eight would make both players play the board, assuring a chop."

The river card, the eight of hearts, accomplished just that.

"Ooof, what a terrible river for Takeru. He went from winning the pot to splitting it. He's been counterfeited, his eight no longer plays, and both players have kings full of eights. Arvin continues to sleep with angels."

Antonio checked, tapping the felt in front of him again.

"Arvin checks again, happy to hope for a free showdown. At the end of the day, he gets to make money off this hand, can't complain about that."

Takeru slowly looked up a Antonio, contemplating his move carefully.

"Takeru...he hasn't acted yet."

"Well...he can just check and accept the chop, but I'll say that this is actually a real opportunity for him to—"

"I'm all-in," Takeru announced, taking a handful of chips from his stack and dropping them across the yellow line in a symbolic gesture.

"There we go, great play by Takeru!"

Arvin furrowed his brow, looking down at the cards in the middle of the table, then up to Takeru.

"Pretty risky play, though. It's putting his tournament life on the line in a situation where he's playing the board. Not a lot of people would do that."

"Well...what can Arvin have at this point that beats the board? It's only pocket pairs nines or bigger and the last king in the deck, since Takeru knows that Arvin can't have pocket eights. Remember, Arvin has now checked the turn and the river, so it's extremely unlikely that he has any of those hands. Any hands that beats the board would be worth a value bet on one of those streets."

Antonio's lips moved around about as he stared down Takeru.

"And Takeru only checked once, so he can represent those hands. He could definitely have the case king or a pocket pair eights or bigger the way this hand played out."

"Makes sense in theory, but...there's gotta be a TINY chance that Antonio is trapping with one of those hands, right? He's a great player, he's capable of a lot of different things."

"Well, believe me, once Takeru announced all-in, he started counting in his head. And as soon as he got to three, he knew he was good, because Antonio would have called quickly with any of those hands. But now, after all of this tanking, he knows that Arvin has to be playing the board, and he's basically on a freeroll."

"So...what about Antonio?"

Antonio sighed audibly, looking down at his cards.

"Well, it's a pretty terrible spot for him, really. He knows it's impossible for him to win the hand, all he can do is tie, so he'd be calling for half the pot. He's getting a bad price to make the call because of that, he's calling off four million to win two million give or take. So Takeru is sitting there knowing that he can't lose, and Antonio is sitting there knowing that he can't win. Very interesting dynamic. And Antonio loses a significant portion of his big stack if he calls and is wrong, and having the big stack at this table is something that's really valuable to him."

"Plus, you'd be giving Takeru a big stack himself, not really something you want to be doing."

Antonio took his cards and tossed them over to the dealer.

"And he folds! Takeru takes the pot!"

"Great great play by Takeru. He read the situation correctly, knew his opponent, and managed to pick up a few million chips he would have otherwise just split. He's actually got an above-average stack now."

Takeru took in the pot, beginning to stack chips yet again.

OOO

"I'll tell you, there's a...a real quiet on the table right now. I'm sure the same goes for the other two active tables. And I promise, it's the calm before the storm."

Takeru pried up the ace of hearts and six of clubs, thinking for a moment before folding them over to the dealer.

"Takeru folds from the hijack with ace six offsuit, Richard Harrison folds the cutoff with the ten eight of hearts...nobody wants to mess around right now."

Antonio Arvin, on the button, checked his cards, finding the eight of diamonds and eight of hearts.

"Oooooo...decision time?"

"I...I think he's gotta do it."

Antonio sat motionless, barely breathing, as he stared at his two cards.

"We just had an uptick in viewers, so for those of you just joining us, welcome to the world's biggest bubble. We're a bit past ten in the morning on Day Two of The Big One For One Drop, level twenty-one. Antes are seventy-five thousand, and blinds are a staggering three hundred and six hundred thousand. There are twenty-one players left, which puts us on the lip of the money. Next player out gets nothing, the player out after that gets one million one hundred and seventy thousand."

"This bubble is so big, it's being considered for replacing the ozone layer."

"I'm all-in," Antonio muttered, taking a handful of chips and putting them forward on the felt.

"Antonio is all-in! And last year's Big One champion, and a chip leader at one point last night, is now at risk of bubbling! He's put his last three point one million in, and he is just PRAYING that he doesn't get called I'm sure."

"Well, he won't get called by Omar Vasquez in the small blind, he's got seven six offsuit, he mucks. So it's all up to Stanley Lucce, in the big blind."

A tall, broad-chested man looked down. Ace of diamonds, ten of clubs.

"And...that might be the most borderline hand possible in a situation like this one."

Stanley put his cards down flat before him, then looked over at Arvin carefully.

"Yeah, this could go either way, very close call. And can you believe this fall from grace for Antonio? He went from looking like a real candidate to go back-to-back, all the way down to this."

"Well, cards can turn against you quickly, and ever since Arvin got bluffed off that chop in that big pot last night by Takeru, it's been all downhill. Of course, it can go the other way just as fast, if he gets called here and wins the hand, he'll be back up to...twelve big blinds, which is at least managable."

"Alright, let's go." Stanley gathered up six purple chips and one black chip, putting them out past the line and taking back his blinds. "You got a pair?"

"Stanley calls! And Antonio is officially at risk of bubbling The Big One!"

With a look of nausea, Arvin flipped over his pair of eights. Stanley revealed the ace-ten offsuit.

"Yeah, Stanley can afford it, he's got...well, he's got fifteen million chips right now, which is pretty much the tournament average, so even if he doesn't win this hand he'll be in reasonable shape."

"I promise you, every other player in this room wants to see three aces on this flop as much as they've ever wanted just about anything. Here we go!"

The dealer pounded the table lightly a few times, then burned a card and put out a flop. Ace of spades, nine of hearts, two of clubs.

"THERE'S AN ACE! Stanley takes a commanding lead in the hand, and Antonio desperately needs to find an eight!"

"My god," Antonio muttered, leaning back heavily in his chair. "When the cards turn against you, they really...they really turn against you."

"The other six players at this table are resisting the urge to jump from their seats and celebrate, I promise you they're all elated right now."

The turn card, a five of spades, changed nothing.

"Blank on the turn, and here it is! Either Antonio Arvin spikes an eight and lives to play another hand on this river, or we will officially be in the money here at The Big One For One Drop! So many people are hanging on the results of this last card!"

Queen of hearts.

"No eight for Antonio, and he has bubbled! All of his chips, bled off to other players, he's out in twenty-first, he's got nothing to show for it but a good time and a tax writeoff!"

Antonio gave a small nod, then stood up. "Nice hand." With slumped shoulders, he grabbed a small bag from underneath his seat. "Have fun everyone."

As Antonio made for the exit hall across the room, the players at the table seemed to visibly uncoil. A soft series of tones rang through the room, making the situation official.

"And...and look at everyone's sphincter's suddenly relaxing! You can breathe, ladies and gentlemen, you have made the money!"

From table two, one of the players suddenly jumped from his chair and gave loud bellow at the top of his lungs, pounding his chest.

"And...we all have different ways of expression our joy."

Takeru stood up, slowly walking over to the rail, moving as if in some kind of trance.

"We're going on a short break now, after which the tables will be redrawn. Two tables of ten players each. All of them will make money, but how much will it be?"

Takeru reached forward at the railing, wrapping his arms around Ken, pulling him into a large hug.

"Takeru turns to his consistent source of mental support for some physical support, he's now officially made them some money."

"I did it," Takeru said simply, unable to come up with anything more creative apparently.

"Yeah," Ken replied. "See? Nothing to worry about, you made everyone money, now...stop stressing about it."

"Knew you were a good investment," Daisy added.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Takeru twisted his head over to his left, finding a bald, bearded man, resting one of his hands on the wooden railing, looking at him from behind a pair of sunglasses.

"U-uh, Ole?!" Takeru stammered out, looking the man up and down. "Holy shit, it's you, what are you doing here?!"

The man gave a small smile. "The...same thing you are doing, it seems." He pointed out towards the tables.

"Oh...oh man, I...man, I'm sorry, I've had nothing on my mind but cards, I...wow, how did I miss your name on the signup sheet?!" Takeru looked around the room, as if he was trying to find something.

"And...Ole Schneider is taking the short break period to talk with Takeru Ishida, they seem to know each other, but somehow...didn't know that the other was in this tournament, I guess."

Takeru turned back to his friends behind the railing, pointing over at Ole as he did. "Yeah, you guys remember Ole Schneider, right? Remember?"

"How could I forget?" Ken shimmied down the rail a bit, reaching out towards Ole with his right hand, taking a quick high-five.

"Doing The Big One, I guess Panok has been kind to you, huh?" Daisy said, leaning forward to get a good look at him.

"Uh, should I...should I know him?" Hikari said meekly, raising her hand up in the air.

Takeru, with a bit a dopey grin, turned to her. "Ah, uh...Ole Schneider attended Skyridge at the same time we all did, he was...I think, in his last year when we were all in our second year. This guy, during his era, was the big dog at the poker table. When we first showed up, he was the guy everyone was afraid of."

"Heard you broke all my records," Ole said. "I go back there now, they don't even remember me, it's all Ishida this and Ishida that."

"Most of your records," Takeru corrected. "Not all of them. But you were the biggest shark in the pond, believe me, I remember." He looked back at Hikari. "Man, I...is this the first time we've seen each other in three years? I heard you were killing it at the Slovena Poker Tour."

"I spend most of my time on the other side of the globe," Ole replied. "Not much we can do about that." He nodded. "So, first world series, and you decide to bite the whole thing off at once." He looked around. "And it works, that's...wow."

"I wasn't going to do it," Takeru said. "But things got crazy, one thing lead to another, and now...well, can't say it didn't work out, can I?"

"We both drew table two." Ole pointed up at a large screen that had just been projected up in the air above the tables. They projected small pictures of each player in rows, indicating the seat numbers. "So that'll be fun."

"Wow, an unexpected reunion among old acquaintances, is there anything this tournament CAN'T do?"

"The two greatest poker prodigies that Skyridge Academy ever produced, competing for twenty-five million dollars," Miyako said quietly. "Talk about a show."

"A show is right! Twenty players left, ninety million dollars to distribute, and the biggest first place prize in the history of the game!"

OOO

Daniel Karns, wearing a very sharp light blue suit, was prompt to fold the eight of diamonds and three of spades.

"Daniel Karns will get rid of those cards from under the gun...and Stanley Lucce folds five deuce offsuit."

Action gradually went around the table, players looking down at their cards and folding.

"Nineteen players left now, we're at table two, still a full ten players here. Still on level twenty-one. Antes and blinds are building a pot of nearly one point seven million chips before anyone acts, so there's a ton of value in stealing."

Takeru bent his head down a bit, finding the king of spades and ten of spades.

"Takeru's our short-stack right now, he's down to just below ten million chips, or sixteen big blinds. In about five minutes, blinds go up, and he'll be down to twelve bigs. It's getting close to shove-or-fold mode for him, is this the hand to get it in?"

"It shouldn't be. Sixteen big blinds, still enough to play with, even twelve isn't terrible. He's basically got enough chips left to play out one more hand, so he may as well give himself a chance to play it out."

Takeru grabbed two purple chips and two black chips, putting them forward on the table. "I started this hand with nine point six," he announced.

"Takeru's made the minimum raise here, he's doubled the big blind to one point two million."

"Yeah, I like this much better than shoving. I mean, there's very little benefit to jamming with king ten suited. You're going to fold out all worse hands, you'll probably fold out a few better hands like king jack, ace ten, maybe ace jack, maybe king queen, and then you get called by all the better hands. Shoving only makes sense if Takeru has no confidence in his poker playing abilities and just wants to get lucky. And clearly, Takeru is something who has good reason to be confident in his abilities, so making the minimum raise and trying to figure out things later is much better."

"He might manage to pick up the blinds and antes too, looks like everyone is folding. Oh man, Takeru could use this, this table is going to be brutal for him unless he can dig his way out of the short-stack."

Players threw their cards in to the dealer in short order.

"Nobody has anything to play with, this is gonna be great for Takeru if he picks it up. And getting called isn't terrible either, king ten suited is a hand that can flop extremely well. If he gets raised, he can just fold, that's fine too, he still has enough chips."

In the big blind, Ole Schneider, seated backwards in his chair, the backrest up against the edge of the table, looked down. Ace of spades, ace of hearts.

"Yeeaaahhh, don't think Ole is folding here. He's got the pocket rockets, and Takeru's hopes of winning preflop have gone out the window."

Schneider swallowed down, mulling over his options. Finally, he reached in and took back his big blind, then put in two purples and two blacks.

"Ole...calls Takeru's raise of one point two, he does not put in a third bet. Very interesting."

"And I love it. He under-represents his hand significantly, very hard for Takeru to ever think he's up against aces. Schneider doesn't just want to win this hand. He wants to stack Takeru. He wants this hand to end with all of Takeru's chips in front of him. Raising there might give Takeru a chance to just fold, and I absolutely believe Takeru would have folded to any three-bet. Now, he can get most, potentially all, of Takeru's chips right here."

The dealer whisked down three cards to the flop. Four of clubs, jack of spades, two of clubs.

"Four jack two, two clubs on that flop, and Takeru's dim chances of having the best hand at showdown get even dimmer. Ole has to like that flop, not too many hands Takeru can have that are now beating aces."

Ole tapped the table with his fingertips a few times.

"And Ole is dedicated to laying this trap for Takeru. Beautiful work."

"Yeah, this is beautiful poker. Takeru pretty much has to bet now, and Ole can capture some guaranteed value."

Takeru, arms folded in front of him, finally began to slowly pluck chips from his stacks.

"Here comes the old continuation bet. Takeru is hoping that Schneider has a hand like...pocket nines or pocket tens, or some other hand that has missed this flop, and that he can coax a fold. Spoiler alert, there will be no fold."

Takeru put out three purple chips.

"One and a half million from Ishida. Leaves him with six point nine million behind. Back to Ole and his pocket aces."

"Ole's gonna take his time here, he's got two good options. He can raise all-in, and just end the hand right now, which would be fine. Or, he can call, and then hope Takeru does the all-in himself on the turn."

Schneider grabbed three purple chips, tossing them in, calling.

"Exquisite slow-play from Ole. He's letting Takeru hang himself. And Takeru's doing a good job of looking like he's comfortable, but inside, you know he has to be feeling sick. He does NOT like this situation."

"There are some good turn cards for Takeru here. Best turn card in the deck would be the jack of spades. Straight flush draw, he'd have a fair few river outs."

The dealer dealt out the jack of clubs.

"Close. Turn card does give Takeru a straight draw, he's open-ended. But Ole is way out in front with the pair of aces in the hole."

"Yeah, decent turn card for Takeru, but also kind of dangerous. He might be sitting there thinking he now has...eleven outs, maybe ten, because any ace or nine gives him a straight, and a king gives him top pair. Of course, we know he only has six outs, since the king wouldn't be good and two of his aces are in Ole's hand. So he might think his equity is considerably more than it actually is."

Ole, once again, tapped the table.

"Schneider checks yet again! And, Aaron, this is the kind of patience you don't see very often, even from the best players."

"Oh yeah, this is beautiful. Ole started this hand with a slightly below average stack, so he wanted to use this opportunity to really chip up, and it's worked beautifully."

Takeru's eyes were fixed on Ole, who gave away nothing from his spot on the edge of the table.

"If I'm Takeru right now, I'm thinking that Schneider has...pocket tens or pocket nines and decided to take one off on the flop. And obviously, if Takeru bets again here, pocket tens and pocket nines have to fold. So I would definitely bet, and I would definitely fall right into the trap. Don't see how Takeru doesn't fall in too."

"I'm all-in," Takeru announced.

"And there it is! Takeru Ishida has put the rest of his stack at risk, and he's got fourteen percent equity!"

"Ooooh, Takeru! In his defense, that was a very well-done trap, most players would have fallen for it!"

Ole slowly removed his sunglasses, putting one of the ends in his mouth and chewing on it as he looked over at Takeru.

"Well...Ole hasn't called yet."

"Yeah, but...he will. He has to."

Ole looked back down at the board of cards, studying them intently, then back up to Takeru.

"Is he? He seems genuinely conflicted."

"Oh, he's gonna call. He's just...he's a great player, one of the best in the world, so he wants to take a minute to think about all the possibilities."

"Wow," Ole muttered. "Wow."

"You know, when you actually look at the board here...that turn card, really not a good card for Schneider's hand. I'm not so sure this is an easy call."

"You know, I was trapping, Takeru," Ole said, looking over at his foe. "I was trapping the whole way, and now..." He set his sunglasses down on the felt. "Now...now I don't know."

"He's conflicted! Aaron, do you still think he's going to call?"

"Well, he certainly should. Look, Ole chose to play deceptively, to make himself look weaker than he was, specifically so he could get this. He chose to do nothing but check and call this whole hand so that Takeru would do the betting for him, so that he could get Takeru to put his whole stack in. He could have gone all-in on the flop if he was concerned, but he called specifically so he could get Takeru to go all-in. That was his plan, and the plan worked perfectly, he can't...he can't abandon his plan after it works."

"Can I...I'm last to act no matter what, can I say my hand?" Ole asked, looking up at the dealer, who gave a quick nod.

"Ace queen, right?" Takeru asked, looking up, taking his gaze off the table in front of him. "Ace queen or king queen?"

"No, better," Ole replied. "I have better than that, I have...the best starting hand in poker."

"Oh, wow," Takeru replied. "That's a good hand." He gave a small smile. "With the club?"

"If I...if I had the club, this would have been a much quicker decision," Schneider responded, adjusting his position in his chair.

"I understand," Takeru said. "Wow, pretty brutal. And on One Drop, too."

"I know, it's...it's brutal." He picked up his sunglasses again and started chewing on one of the arms.

"But these things happen, you can't sweat it," Takeru continued. "Sometimes there's just nothing you can do."

Ole scratched the side of his head, rubbing his temple. "I could...I could fold." He didn't take his eyes off Takeru for a moment. "I could throw my hand away, I could do that."

"I would think less of you," Takeru countered. "I mean, growing up at academy, you were the guy everyone wanted to be, I looked up to you, everyone thought you were amazing...I'd think less of you."

"I'd be okay with that," Ole said. "Sorry to say, I'd rather keep a decent stack and have you think less of me if I'm beat." He blinked a few times. "If I'm beat."

Takeru nodded. "Alright." He leaned back in his chair. "I should probably leave you to your decision now."

"Wow, that was...huge credit to Takeru right there, if...if Ole is actually considering folding here, then that conversation probably made him consider it more. Takeru sounded very relaxed and comfortable during that exchange. You know he's dying on the inside, but he made it sound like he's got the nuts."

"You still think Ole is calling?"

"Yeah, I do. But it was a great performance from Ishida. Because you know that once Ole said he had aces, Takeru realized that he had even less outs than he thought. He thought he was in bad shape, he's actually in terrible shape. Very hard to put on that facade."

"Okay." Ole sighed. "Sorry guys, this is...this is gonna take a minute, big decision, I have to...think about this." He nodded to himself. "I don't think you would do this with ace queen or king queen...unless it included the ace of clubs or king of clubs." He swallowed. "King ten with the king of clubs, maybe."

"He's really close. Takeru has king ten, but he does NOT have a club."

"Even if you have those hands, I...I'm not a huge favorite or anything." He rubbed his temple again. "I wouldn't normally fold this hand in this spot, but...but One Drop. Any other tournament, I wouldn't even think too hard about it, but..."

"And Ole kind of betrays himself when he says that. He basically just said, I know I should call, but I'm scared of the money jumps. He knows that he played the hand like this to get this opportunity, and that folding now is a game theory trainwreck, and he basically just admitted it. This is all about the pay jumps."

"Isn't it fair to be afraid of the pay jumps, though? They're the biggest pay jumps in the world!"

"Oh, absolutely, but if Ole was going to get scared on the turn, he could have jammed the flop after Takeru continuation bet. There are ways he could have played it to avoid a situation where he has to fold this hand after putting all these chips in the middle on it and playing deceptively. He made himself look bluffable intentionally, you have to utilize that when your opponent bites. It's okay to be scared of the money, but you can't let that fear ruin your plans like this."

"Okay." Ole looked back over at Takeru. "Sorry guys, big spot here, I'm still gonna need some time."

Takeru remained in his familiar pose at the table, arms crossed, head hanging down a bit, shoulders beginning to slump.

"Takeru is looking less and less comfortable by the second. I think those flips his stomach must be doing right now are beginning to take their toll on his appearance."

"He thinks he's getting called. He should get called."

"Any other tournament in the world, we're looking at the river card right now," Ole said. "But...you know, me and Takeru played some poker together at academy." He looked around the table slowly. "I guess his game has..probably changed since then."

"HUGE decision for Ole Schneider, and he's gonna take a little more time to think about it. Will he put Takeru on the brink of elimination? Or will he put those aces in the muck?" 


	25. Widening The Range

Chapter 25: Widening The Range

Takeru's body seemed to be slumping by fractional amounts as time passed, face slack and eyes on the board of cards before him.

"Maybe it's just because I know that Takeru has king high and six river outs, but I can't shake the feeling that Takeru is looking less comfortable with each passing minute."

The entire room seemed to be holding it's breath. Eyes were going back and forth between Takeru and Ole, as so many millions of dollars hung in the balance.

"Ole Schneider has been in the tank for eight minutes now, trying to pick one of two options. Call a pot-sized turn shove, or fold to preserve his stack. Calling and losing leaves Ole with about six big blinds, but calling and winning gives him an above-average stack and eliminates another player."

Ole had his eyes on Takeru, examining him closely, leaning forward to try to get a good look at his foe.

"So, clearly, Schneider is well aware that he was playing to trap Takeru. He's aware that this is exactly what he wanted Takeru to do. He knows all this, and he still hasn't called, so what else does he need to tell himself, Aaron?"

"Well, he needs to think about the logic of this hand. Takeru started the hand with sixteen big blinds and he made the minimum raise preflop, I think that's the most important bit of data, and I think that makes a great argument for calling."

Ole looked around the table, seeing the mounting impatience of the other players around him, then turned back to Takeru. Takeru remained in his pose, arms folded over each other on the edge of the table, eyes downcast at the board.

"So given that, what can Takeru have? Let's work backwards. He could have a flush, that's probably the biggest concern that Ole has right now, worried he's drawing dead against a flush. Takeru can definitely have a flush, but it's probably not the nut flush, because then why would Takeru overbet the pot? Maybe sometimes as a level, he could do it, but I have to imagine Takeru would bet smaller with the nut flush. So you have a few king high flushes, like king queen and king ten, queen ten, and MAYBE ten nine. Takeru doesn't have enough chips to play hands like seven six of clubs or five four of clubs, so those flushes aren't realistic. So it really is just king queen, king ten, queen ten, and ten nine."

"Ace queen...king queen...I just don't think you have those hands," Ole muttered. "You might jam preflop with those hands."

"Then you have sets. Takeru can have a set, but again, Takeru min-raised preflop. Most of the time, he's just going to go all-in with pocket queens or pocket jacks because of his short-stack, so it's mostly just sets of fours and sets of deuces, and really, given he has so few chips, Takeru is going to just fold those hands preflop some of the time."

"Of course...I know you don't put me on aces," Schneider continued.

"And then last, two pair. Takeru can only have one two pair hand, which is queen jack specifically. That's it! Ole is ahead of everything else, which includes straight draws, like the hand that Takeru has, hands with the ace of clubs or king of clubs in them, and maybe even complete airballs! There are SO many semi-bluffs Takeru can have here that you're way ahead of, and you're even beating some of his value. King ten, king ten with the king of clubs, ace queen with the ace of clubs, ace jack with the ace of clubs, ten nine, and probably a few others. You're beating all those hands."

Suddenly Daniel Karns raised his hand up in the air. "Clock."

"Well, it's been nearly ten minutes, so I don't think Daniel can be faulted, he has called the clock on on Ole Schneider."

A man in a dark suit went up behind Ole. "Clock has been called, you have sixty seconds to act on your hand. If you do not act on your hand in sixty seconds, your hand will be declared dead."

"I'm sure Takeru appreciates Karns calling the clock, a few more minutes of having to sit there under Schneider's glare and Takeru might drop dead at the table."

Ole nodded slowly. "Alright." He didn't take his eyes off Takeru, still trying to pick up on something.

"Ole is examining Takeru with a microscope."

"I'll tell you, I'm not sure if Ole can pick up on Takeru's mounting discomfort, but I wonder if he can detect it and use it to make the call. I feel like his deteriorating state is a pretty compelling argument to make the call."

Ole grimaced, puffing a large breath from his nostrils.

"Of course, if all the other reasons to call weren't good enough for Ole, that one might not be either. Still kind of can't believe a player of Schneider's caliber really might end up playing aces like this and then folding."

With seconds ticking down, finally, Schneider picked up his two cards and whisked them over to the dealer.

"And he throws away his eighty-six percent hand! Wow!"

Takeru's entire body seemed to snap back to life as the cards went into the muck. "No chance those are aces!" Takeru pointed over towards the muck. "Zero chance!"

Ole shrugged. "Flip them over," he said, looking to the dealer. "Go ahead."

The dealer followed the request, grabbing the top two cards from the discard pile and turning them face up, showing the pair of aces.

Takeru's hands reached up and ran through his blond hair, giving a sharp exhale. He took his cards and tossed them face up on the table, revealing to all the king and ten of spades.

"And Takeru shows the massive bluff!"

Schneider pursed his lips. "Good hand." He shook his head a bit, giving a woeful look. "Well played."

"What a sequence of events! Takeru picks up a few million more chips, Schneider blew a golden chance to become one of the bigger stacks in the tournament, and it feels like the energy might have just shifted a bit!"

Takeru exhaled loudly yet again, shaking his head violently back and forth a few times.

"And I think Daniel Karns calling the clock on Ole might have saved Takeru's life. Not his tournament life, his actual life, I think he was on the verge of slumping over dead."

OOO

Takeru used both hands to push in a large collection of chips.

"And Takeru is going for maximum value, he has pushed all of his remaining chips across the yellow line! That is eight point two million in chips, pushing this pot to a staggering thirty-one million!"

Brian Towns blinked down hard several times, wiping his forehead off.

"And Brian Towns has not yet released his cards yet, so he's clearly at least thinking about this. I think this is a super easy fold, Brian has nothing but pocket fives! What's he thinking here?"

"This would be the sickest call of my career," Towns muttered, looking around the room.

"Well, I guess a few things. Takeru three-bet preflop from the small blind after Towns raised, so you would think he'd have a monster hand, like aces, kings, ace king, queens...not very many nines. So the fact that there are two nines on the board would probably have gotten him to slow down even if he had aces. As it turns out, Takeru three-bet with ten nine of hearts, and that bit of unconventional play has really paid off for him now."

Towns gathered up a collection of purple chips in his right hand.

"Takeru's bet the flop, turn and river now, so he's pretty polarized to either having a nine or having nothing since there were two nines on the flop. Towns has a bluff-catcher, and this whole hand does reek of Takeru trying to steal the pot with something like ace king."

"This is gonna look so bad on television," Brian added with a self-aware smirk.

"Plus, Takeru showed that big bluff an hour or so ago against Ole Schneider, so that HAS to be in the back of everyone's head right now. So this call would have some logic behind it. I'd still lean towards folding because of ICM and pay jump considerations, but Towns is primarily a cash game player, so he might be leaning towards call."

Brian slammed his stack of chips across the yellow line.

"Trips." Takeru turned over his ten and nine of hearts, which went with the nine of diamonds and nine of spades on the board.

"And Brian Towns is down to four big blinds! A crippling blow to his hopes of making the final table! Meanwhile, Takeru Ishida continues to come to life here, he's now among the biggest stacks in the room!"

"Give a lot of credit to Takeru for that hand, he really manufactured that massive pot. He three-bet preflop with a hand that most people would just call with, and then bet every street for value when he hit the flop, knowing his opponent could hero call him with marginal hands."

Takeru raked in a large number of chips to his stack, now beginning to move up the ranks.

OOO

"Well, I think Takeru's strategy in this tournament has become fairly apparent at this point, it's really not anything too uncommon or special, in fact I think a lot of players try to employ it. He played tight and kept it safe for the first day or so, tried to just make the money, and then once he was in the money, he started playing more aggressively, started mixing up his play, and was willing to risk his tournament life. It's just a hard strategy to make work."

Takeru, watching the last of the cards being dealt out around the table of six players, had a look down at the ace of spades and ace of clubs.

"And, ooh, Ishida's got the boots here, from under the gun, very nice. If someone else has a playable hand here, we could very well be down to our final table."

Takeru reached down and grabbed two purple chips and and two black chips from his significant piles in front of him. He tossed them forward on the table.

"And...well, Takeru's laying a nice little trap here. He's limping in with aces, he's just paid the big blind."

Takeru turned his head to his left, watching fellow players at the table looking down at their cards.

"Eleven players remain, so the average stack size is a bit over twenty-seven million. Antes are two hundred thousand, blinds are six hundred thousand and one point two million. Takeru wants to get one of these short stacks to commit themselves to this pot, get us down to our final ten."

Slowly, players considered their cards before folding them.

"It's probably not even necessary for Takeru to lay a trap here, a standard raise would probably work about as well, but...it definitely helps to balance your range, and if Takeru is going to be open-limping a lot of weaker hands like eight seven suited and ten eight suited, those kinds of hands, he wants to at least have aces in his range there, so doing it once is a nice way to vary your play."

"It's folded around to the small blind now, still no fish on the hook for Takeru...small blind is Jeffrey Warmack, he's got queen ten offsuit, queen of spades and ten of hearts."

Jeffery looked over at Takeru slowly, staring over at his foe.

"Warmack's got about...twenty big blinds. He's already got six hundred grand in the pot from his blind...seems like a good spot to call and see the flop."

"We've already had two jacks and a queen folded, so Warmack's in even worse shape than he might normally be, but the good news is he can see a flop and fold if he misses."

Slowly, Jeffrey took a purple and a black chip, throwing them to the pot.

"And Vanessa Albright...oh boy, this could get ugly, Vanessa Albright in the big blind has the ace of diamonds and jack of clubs, I think this is the end of Vanessa."

After examining her two cards, Vanessa began to shuffle out a handful of the paltry sum of chips she had left in front of her, using her off hand to comb back her short brown hair.

"Yeah, Albright...this looks like such a fantastic squeeze spot. She's short on chips, she's been waiting for a good hand to jam with...this is gonna be ugly."

"Eight million, all-in," Vanessa announced, pointing in towards the dealer.

"Yup, Albright had...a little less than seven big blinds left, completely standard shove in my opinion, but she's in horrendeous shape."

Takeru blinked down slowly a few times, robotically looking down at his chipstack, fingers parsing through his holdings.

"And...and Takeru's going to go into this final table with the chip lead, he's got...he's gonna have about fifty-five million chips! He came into the final twenty with one of the short stacks!"

"It's beauty of no limit Holdem, things can flip so quickly. Like I was saying earlier, when you choose to play tight and passive in a poker tournament, it's so easy to just slowly bleed off all your chips and then you end up just conking out before the money, and even if you do make the money, you're probably going to have so few chips, it's hard to go much further. I mean, we saw it earlier, Takeru was dead to rights, Ole Schneider had him and let him off the hook. Now Ole's eliminated and Takeru's just caught fire ever since. If it wasn't for that incorrect hero fold from Ole, Takeru probably goes the way of most other passive tournament players, and gets bounced early in the money."

"I'm all-in," Takeru announced. Immediately, Vanessa rolled her eyes, grimacing.

"And Vanessa knows he has it, you can tell, she just fell neck deep into the trap and she just figured it out. And Warmack's definitely getting out of the way, he's not calling off his tournament with queen ten offsuit."

Warmack grabbed his cards, flicking them over towards the dealer.

"Please tell me you have kings," Albright said, turning to look at Takeru's hand grabbing his cards. Takeru flipped over the two black aces, leaving Vanessa to show how bad her situation was by turning over ace jack.

"And...obviously, a great run for Vanessa Albright, she will be cashing to the tune of one point six two million, but it always hurts to bubble the final table."

"I even had a blocker to that hand," Albright said, standing up, putting her hands on her hips as the dealer gathered together three cards from the top of the deck.

"Two jacks have been folded, two queens are gone, and there's a ten in the muck, so Vanessa is in even worse shape than she thinks right now. She can't make trip jacks, and running out a straight is going to be very hard."

Five of hearts, four of diamonds, ten of spades.

"Yeah, nothing she could have done though, ace jack is plenty good enough to jam with that few chips behind. She's got...she needs to see a king or queen on the turn here to be drawing live. A two or three would leave the possibility of a split pot alive."

"Here comes that turn card, it is...the ace of hearts."

"Try to have fun without me," Vanessa said, reaching down to grab the leather strap of her back, turning away from the table and walking over towards the railing surrounding the large room.

"Meaningless six of spades on the river, and we are down to ten contestants!"

Takeru stood up, stretching his back out. "Sometimes you catch something in those traps."

"Ten remain, all of them aiming to carve out a big piece of the biggest prize pool in poker history! Final table coming up!"

OOO

"I don't know if I can really love my chances at this point," Takeru said, looking over three seats to his right at a small man in a baseball cap. "I'm just saying, playing against the guy who's putting the whole tournament on, that's not great for me."

"Believe me, if I am the biggest concern that you have for this tournament, then you are in good shape," Alec replied in an accented, yet still comfortable and smooth voice.

"Sounds like a wolf in sheep's clothing to me," Takeru joked, as cards were whisked out along the table. "I dunno, the guy who runs the tournament, not a guy I'm dying to clash with."

"You know, I never thought about it before, but if I ever do win this tournament, it might be a bit of a scandal," Alec mused.

"Takeru definitely sounds a lot more comfortable than he was yesterday. Getting to the money and having a chip lead will do that to you, I suppose."

"Oh, hey, we've just been joined in the booth here by...Koushiro Izumi, who was knocked out of this tournament in thirteenth a couple hours ago. Koushiro, good to see you drop in."

"Hey guys, how's it going?"

Joseph Harrugat had a look down at his two cards, ace of diamonds and ten of diamonds.

"Exciting as always, glad you could pop in for a bit."

Harrugat grabbed three platinum chips and two black chips, throwing them forward.

"Nine players, we're on level twenty-five. Antes are two hundred thousand, blinds are eight hundred and one point six million. Average stack is a touch above thirty-three million, so we're starting to get a touch shallow. Harrugat makes the minimum raise here with the suited ace ten."

With Daniel Karns folding an offsuit queen jack, action switched over to Alec Tremblay on the button.

"So, Koushiro, congratulations on your performance in The Big One, thirteenth place was good for a profit of six hundred and twenty thousand dollars, and...oooh, Tremblay's got two red queens, big hand."

Alec wiped his hand over his mouth, pondering his options.

"Thanks, I...I'm not typically a person who celebrates cashing as a triumph, but in this particular tournament, it actually is something worth being happy with, it's a lot of money to make in less than two days, so I'm glad I decided to do this at the last second."

Tremblay gathered together a series of platinum chips, putting them forward into the pot, raising to ten million.

"And Alec Tremblay three-bets to ten million. He's got about fifteen million behind, so he's likely committed to this hand. Not a bad hand to be committed with. So, Koushiro, you've had a...very successful world series to this point. It's really your first big foray into tournament poker, think you'll be sticking around?"

"Well, I can't imagine going cold turkey, obviously. Really, it just comes down to whether or not I can get action on side bets, because side bets are really what makes something like a tournament interesting to me."

With Jeffery Warmack folding his ten eight of hearts, Takeru finally investigated his holdings from the big blind.

"Takeru Ishida holds...ace of spades and king of diamonds! Could see some fireworks here!"

"Yeah, seems like a great spot for Takeru and Alec to get all the chips in preflop. These two hands sort of play themselves."

Takeru slowly rotated his head around the table, looking at all of his opponents in turn.

"Anyway, I definitely enjoy tournament poker, but at the end of the day, the money you can win is really kind of light compared to what you can win in a big cash game. So if I can't get side bets in, it's just not really worth the time for me. So I'll stay in the tournaments so long as I can justify the time spent."

"There aren't many people in the world who can look at the hundred of millions of dollars being tossed around in the world series and think that it's not enough to be worth their time. But I'm definitely familiar with the amounts being tossed around in some of those Panok cash games, and even some of the big cash pots online, so I can understand."

"Twenty-five million total," Takeru announced.

"Whoo, and there he goes, our chip leader has put in a fourth bet! Ace king offsuit is good enough for Takeru, he's basically put Alec Tremblay all-in to call!"

"And Joseph can't call off his tournament on ace ten, he's got to fold. Can't see Tremblay folding, so we're moments away from the biggest pot of the tournament so far."

Slowly, with a few seconds of thought, Harrugat took his two cards and slid them over to the muck, exiting the hand minus the initial three point two million raise.

"The good news for Alec is that Harrugat just folded an ace, so there's one less ace for Takeru to hit on the board. The bad news is that Karns folded a queen, so that much less likely he hits a set."

"I have...eight hundred thousand extra," Alec said, sifting through his chip stacks. "So I will go all-in for eight hundred thousand more."

"I'll call." Takeru began to put together rows of chip columns up near the yellow line, committing a large percentage of his stack to the hand.

"And there we go! Alec Tremblay is at risk, but he's got the best hand for the moment, a classic clash between a pair of queens and ace king!"

Takeru immediately stood up, stepping back from the table a step, hands on his hips. Alec also got to his feet and slowly made his way around the table towards Takeru.

"You know, this is actually Alec's best One Drop finish to date already. He's guaranteed to finish ninth out of one hundred players, he's never finished in the top ten percent before."

"Tremblay has cashed a couple times in previous years, but this will be his best showing to date. Of course, the money doesn't mean quite as much to him as it does to everyone else, whatever prize money he wins in this tournament goes straight to the One Drop Foundation."

Alec went up next to Takeru, extending his left hand out behind Takeru's back and grabbing onto Takeru's left shoulder. "Alright buddy, we're doing this, let's go!"

Takeru paused for a beat, and then extended his right arm out behind Alec, grabbing onto his right shoulder. "You know I need it more than you, right?"

Both players used their free hands to shake hands.

"You have got me there," Alec admitted. "You're certainly right about that."

"You know, I've never been in a poker hand with a pot of THIS magnitude before, so I can't be sure, but I have a feeling that I wouldn't be acting quite this relaxed and friendly. Takeru and Alec showing everyone how to handle being in a hand with fifty-seven million chips in the middle."

"And we're watching the hand that should shape this entire final table. If Alec's queens hold up, he'll be the new chip leader and Takeru will have a below-average stack. If Takeru can spike the winner, we're down to eight players and Takeru will be the overwhelming chip leader. All comes down to this board runout."

"Alright, come on, one time," Takeru muttered. "Ace, put it right in the window, come on!"

The dealer burned a card before setting out the seven of diamonds, jack of clubs, and two of clubs.

"It's okay, it's coming, it's coming," Takeru said, nodding, whole body practically bouncing up and down as the two men remained in the awkward embrace.

"Oh, I don't think so, not this time!" Alec replied quickly.

"Wanna bet?" Takeru said lightly.

"Great flop for Tremblay's queens. All Takeru flopped was a runner-runner straight draw, and that straight draw would have to include a queen, and there's only one queen left in the deck. Alec's at about seventy-five percent now."

"This kid is special!" Alec shouted out, pointing at Takeru with his friend hand and turning his head around to look at assorted people in the bleachers. "I've met his father before, I met this guy when he was like this." He lowered his hand down a bit so it was level with his waist, indicating height. "He was this tall. And now, look at what we're doing!"

"A generational gap, bridged by poker. Turn card coming."

The dealer put down a king of spades. Tremblay keeled over a bit, taking Takeru down a few inches with him. The room erupted with assorted audience reactions.

"AND THERE'S THE KING! Takeru spikes top pair and now has the best hand! Alec Tremblay is in trouble!"

"It's okay, it's coming!" Alec said, pointing down at the spot on the table where the river card would be placed. "It's coming!"

"Yeah, it's...it's not coming," Takeru said, giving a small head shake and patting his palm on Alec's chest. "I don't think it's coming."

"No, I'm feeling it!" Tremblay continued.

"Alec's 'it' is no doubt a queen. What he doesn't know is that one queen is in the muck already, so he's got one card to hit and one chance to hit it."

"Okay, but really now," Alec began. "If you knock me out here, you have to do this tournament again next year, that's only fair, you know?!"

"Come talk to me after this one's over," Takeru responded. "I might just have to take you up on that."

"You know...heh, for two guys who really don't know each other all that well, Alec and Takeru are getting pretty up close and personal with each other, not something you see every day at a poker table."

"Yeah, I...I obviously played at the same table as him for a few hours this morning in this tournament, and that seems to be his way, he's a very friendly and even a bit of an in-your-face guy, doesn't mind crossing some social boundary lines, and...if you're like me, it makes you uncomfortable, but apparently, Takeru is taking to it well."

The dealer put down a four of clubs.

"No case queen for Tremblay, he's out in ninth place!"

Alec shrugged, pulling away from Takeru a bit. Takeru raised his hands up in the air, then gave Alec a quick hug.

"That's good for a two and one thirds million dollar cash for Alec, yet another sizable donation to the One Drop charity."

The room erupted into applause, both for Takeru's victory and Alec's high finish.

"And the entire room makes sure to give an extra bit of appreciation for the man who's responsible for this tournament."

Alec Tremblay spun around slowly, waving to the crowd as the thunderous clapping continued.

"You know, cashing in The Big One For One Drop would be a massive deal for just about anyone else in the world, but for a guy like Tremblay, this is probably his eighty-seventh greatest life achievement, so he's probably pretty even keeled about it."

"It's probably his greatest poker accomplishment, actually. He impressed me for the few hours I played with him today. I've played with him before online, seems like he stepped up his game compared to what I remember."

"His departure will only fuel the Takeru Ishida train. With eight players left, Takeru is approaching eighty million in chips, easily the most in the tournament."

OOO

"So, Koushiro, you've said in the past that you consider yourself a much better cash game player than a tournament player, what's...what's the main adjustment? What...what's the difference that makes you better at cash games?"

Joseph Harrugat slowly pried up his hole cards. Ace of spades, ten of spades.

"Mainly, it's just having a survival instinct, I can't...I can't help myself when I'm in borderline situations. The big difference is, in a cash game, you can get more money if you lose it, and in a tournament, you can't."

"Alright, big blind is...two point four million?" Joseph muttered, slowly going through his chipstack. "I raise to seven million."

"Hm, Harrugat just committed himself to this hand. He's got about ten big blinds left, he just stuck in about thirty percent of his stack, he's got a suited ace ten, three handed this is a monster hand. Anyway, in a cash game, you can just make the profitable decision every time and it'll work out for you. In a tournament you have all the ICM considerations that...I just end up ignoring most of the time."

Takeru judged his nine eight of spades for a couple moments.

"Oooh, interesting spot for Takeru, he's got suited connectors. Problem is Joseph has two bigger spades, so if some spades hit this flop he could be in a lot of danger."

Takeru tossed his cards over to the muck.

"Takeru will avoid such danger. Joseph has a bit of a reputation as a tight and patient player, even with a fairly short stack, and Takeru doesn't feel like he needs to get involved when he's sure he's an underdog. He's already got sixty percent of the chips in play more or less."

Slowly, Daniel Karns took a look at his holdings.

"And Daniel Karns...ace queen, both hearts!"

"Pretty easy decision here for both players, Daniel's going to jam and Joseph has to call. This might be the best hand he gets for awhile, he doesn't have enough chips to wait for something better."

"How much do you have behind?" Karns asked, craning his head up to look over at Joseph.

"I started the hand with about twenty-three million, I got...like sixteen million left."

Karns exhaled out of his nose sharply, looking down at his chip stack.

"He's just putting on a bit of a performance here, just in case. Anyway, what I was saying earlier, when I play poker, I bluff a lot when I think it's a good situation for a bluff, and I make hero calls when I think it's warranted. Um, in a cash game, I can do that, and when it ends up not working out, it's fine because I can just go get more money. In a tournament, I can bluff or hero call someone when I think it's appropriate, but if it doesn't work out that particular time, I'm in trouble because those mistakes cost chips that I can't just buy back. If you look at my performance in this world series, you'll obviously see some deep runs and the two wins, but most of the tournaments I busted out very quickly. My philosphy was I either wanted to win the tournament or get eliminated fast so I could do something else."

"I'm all-in," Daniel announced, waving his hand forward.

"I gotta go with it, I call," Harrugat replied, rocketing up to his feet as he spoke.

Daniel displayed his suited ace queen, drawing a profanity from Harrugat.

"Ah boy," he grunted, turning over his ace ten.

"And Karns has Joseph dominated!"

"You know, that's the best hand I've seen in hours," Joseph said, pointing down at his cards. "I saw suited ace ten a few hours ago, now I'm seeing it again, haven't gotten anything better inbetween. Bad time to go card dead."

"And if Daniel Karns sees his hand hold up, he will have about one hundred and twenty million chips, and will officially get us to our heads up portion of The Big One! We are five cards away from potentially being down to just two players!"

"Just make it fun," Harrugat asked as the dealer prepared to put out a flop. "Straight draw, flush draw, something, make it a sweat, don't just put out three hearts."

Ace of clubs, ten of hearts, five of hearts.

"And there's a big flop! Ace ten five, two hearts, and Harrugat has taken the lead by flopping top two pair. BUT, Karns can still make a bigger two pair with a queen, AND he just needs to squeeze out one more heart to make the nut flush!"

"Well, one thing's for sure. If Karns had chosen to flat preflop instead of three betting, all the money would have gone in right here."

Harrugat clapped a few times, pacing around the floor like a caged lion. "That's what I'm talking about! Action flop! Good TV!"

The turn card, a king of diamonds, upped the intrigue.

"That's a fun card for the turn, the king of diamonds keeps Joseph in the lead, but also gives Karns extra outs! He still needs a queen to make a better two pair OR a heart to make the nut flush. He can now ALSO hit another king on the river, which would counterfeit Joseph's two pair, plus a jack gives Karns a straight. He's got seventeen outs!"

Takeru glanced behind him at Joseph, then turned to look at Karns seated to his left. "I didn't fold any of your outs," Takeru stated.

"I'm almost a favorite," Karns said with a little laugh. "This is a fun board alright. Okay...king, queen, jack, heart."

The dealer, after milking the moment, burned and turned the river. Jack of clubs.

"The river gives Daniel Karns a straight! He got there, and Harrugat is out in third!"

"Oof." Joseph blew a small raspberry. "Don't have any blanks in that deck? Three of diamonds? Six of clubs?" He sighed. "Alright, you boys have fun." He walked over to shake Daniel's hand.

"Third place money for Harrugat is a staggering seven and a half million dollars, but right now that river card has to sting!"

"And, as Harrugat exits to thunderous applause, let's take a look at this final two. Daniel Karns, who by the way, is now officially the biggest tournament earner in poker history regardless of where he finishes here. Even second place money would give him the top spot on that list. And Takeru Ishida, who a handful of hours ago, was one of the short stacks and was practically on death row. It's quite an interesting pair of players, and both of them have enough chips to feel good about their chances."

"Get ready for some fireworks, we're down to two contestants! Twenty-five million dollars awaits the champion!"

OOO

"So how does that work?" Karns grabbed the small white button chip from the dealer and zipped it over to Takeru. "You're twenty years old, you show up for your first world series, you end up playing your idol, and you just...destroy him at every turn? That's how this is gonna go?"

Takeru gave a small grin. "Honestly, I just think it's amazing that...you actually remember that I said that I was your idol. I just figured it'd be in one ear and out the other."

"Well, you've kind of been the big story of this entire world series, so I'm gonna remember. I mean, you stepped over me to win that first bracelet, remember?" Karns watched two cards get dealt out to each player. "I don't forget stuff like that. Remember, first hand at the table, you said I...I was your hero or something like that, I think."

"Sounds about right," Takeru said, nodding.

"But anyway, it's not supposed to be like this!" Karns continued. "It's supposed to be, like...you show up, meet me, and I destroy you, and then you...like, learn from the experience, hone your craft over years from the lessons you learned, and then like...twenty years from now, we clash again, and then you finally get me, that's how this is supposed to go!"

"Hey, if you win this heads up, that could still happen," Takeru reminded him. "This is the one people remember."

Karns looked down at his dealt cards. "Busted me out of the one thousand Holdem...knocked me out of the final table in Stud Eight...these kids, just no respect for their elders." He gave a small laugh.

"I don't think of you as an elder," Takeru replied. "I mean, you were so young when you started out on the circuit, to me you're...still the new kid on the block. Don't care if it's been fifteen years."

"It's refreshing, hearing these two players enjoying idle conversation so much. It's indicative of respect for their opponent, an understanding that this is just a game, that at the end of the day they're both winners, and also showing a surprising amount of relaxation despite the TWENTY-FIVE MILLION TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND IN CASH ON THE TABLE!"

Indeed, a giant cube of cash had been constructed in the center of the table, either player sitting on either side of it. Each layer of the cube was worth millions, creating a simple structure of immense value. Atop the mountain was a gleaming bracelet, the cherry on top of the reward.

"No poker table has ever seen a bounty quite this size before."

Takeru put out three stacks of four purple chips, pushing them past the yellow line, after looking at the ace of spades and three of clubs, sweeping his small blind back in the process.

"Takeru likes his ace rag enough to put out a raise from the button. He pushes it to six million."

Daniel Karns had a glance down at the queen and nine, both clubs.

"Queen nine suited for Daniel, gotta be worth a call. And, it's gotta be said, Takeru's still the chip leader...but Karns is slowly clawing his way back into this thing. Takeru had about one hundred and sixty million chips at the start of this hand, so Daniel is making gradual progress."

Karns took back his big blind before putting out twelve purple chips.

"And Daniel makes the call."

"Yeah, Karns is slowly working his way towards even stacks. And he's doing it a little bit at a time. When you're in a heads up battle against someone, and you believe that you are a better player than them, you want the match to go on for a long time. You want to slowly work your way up, slowly grab a lead, and then put your opponent away after you grab a big lead. And I'm sure that Karns believes himself to be a better player than Takeru."

A flop hit the felt. Jack of hearts, six of diamonds, nine of diamonds.

"Jack six nine flop hits Karns, he has a pair of nines, middle pair. Nothing for Takeru. Koushiro, is Karns a better player than Takeru?"

Daniel gently checked, tapping the table a few times, letting Takeru check behind quickly.

"I think so, but...look, Karns has fifteen years of professional experience, Takeru has a couple months, so I think most people are going to just look at that make the logical assumption from that. That might very well be valid, but I'll say this. I've been very impressed with Takeru this world series, and Karns is not the better player by very much. This isn't some sort of mismatch at all."

A turn card, the three of hearts, gave Takeru bottom pair.

"In fact, Takeru's said before that Daniel is sort of his idol, someone he really liked and respected growing up, and it definitely shows in his game I think. I think both players play a very similar style and are capable of doing similar things. So it really is all about those fifteen years and how much you value something like that. Both guys are excellent hand readers, both love to play hands postflop, they're both balanced, they both mix up their table talk...Takeru definitely learned a lot from how Daniel plays. But sometimes, a youthful perspective can beat out the wisdom of being a veteran."

Karns grabbed some chips, a stack of purple, pushing the entire thing out into the middle.

"And Daniel is convinced he's got the best hand, he's not checking again. He puts out a ten million chip bet."

"With Takeru checking the flop and a three on the turn, Karns is pretty much definitely best here with a pair of nines, and...that three could get Takeru in some trouble. It's just a pair of threes, but...it's very, very hard to fold a pair in heads up play."

Takeru grabbed a stack of purple, pushing it into the pot, matching the bet.

"That pair of threes convinces Takeru to match the bet from Karns, and Daniel is suddenly very likely to be snatching up the chip lead after this hand! How things can change quickly!"

The river card, the five of diamonds, completed the board.

"And that won't help anyone, but Takeru's the one who needed help, Daniel's got the best hand."

"Well, that card did complete a diamond flush and some straight draws, but...Takeru is likely to bet or raise a draw on the flop or turn, so I think Karns will continue to believe he's best and value bet this."

Slowly, Karns put together an eighteen million chip arrangement, nearly two full stacks of purples. They went in, bloating the pot even further.

"Eighteen million chip value bet from Daniel, chunky bet for a man with second pair. But second pair is the best hand, and Takeru does have the kind of hand that MIGHT find a hero call."

Takeru stared over at Karns for several seconds, hand absentmindedly shuffling chips.

"Just for the record, IF Takeru can find it in him to raise right here, we'll have to cut our camera feed, as I believe Karns would immediately vomit all over the table."

Takeru whisked his cards back over to the dealer.

"And Takeru lays down his pair of threes! Good fold, but Daniel is now a slight chip leader!"

"Another good fold by Takeru, he's made a few of those now. He's surrendered the chip lead, but it could easily have been much worse if he had called on that river and a couple previous rivers. He's definitely locked in right now."

"Well, being locked in is good, but even better is winning pots. I think he's gotta turn this match around soon, or else Karns will get to play the part of the bully for the rest of this battle."

OOO

"I was going to bluff the river," Takeru said, pointing down at the table. "But then I hit the eight on the river and I didn't need to."

"I had every intention of calling with ace high," Daniel replied. "I swear to God, I...I was going to call with ace queen."

"Okay, I'm on the button?" Takeru captured two cards underneath his palm. "Alright, here we go."

"Level twenty-eight. Antes are four hundred thousand, blinds are one point five and three million. You just don't see chip counts like this anywhere else except the Main Event. It's exciting to see numbers that big!"

Takeru, looking down at the ace and four, both diamonds. He began to put together chips.

"Momentum continues to favor the veteran, Karns is now a significant chip leader. Daniel holds one hundred and seventy million chips, a bit more than fifty-six percent of all chips in play. Not quite enough to play big stack bully, but enough to give him a leg up. Takeru is still well alive with one-thirty million, but things are not going his way so far."

Takeru pumped in a half-stack of purple chips.

"Takeru sees the ace four of diamonds, and decides to make it six and a half million to go. Koushiro, what's Takeru gotta do here?"

"He's not playing bad at all. He's actually playing quite well, it's just not going his way at this moment. Part of the problem with playing Daniel Karns is that he tends to be a bit of a calling station, so he's hard to bluff, and Takeru doesn't want to stick his neck out with a bluff against someone who has a tendency to always call. So it's hard to make a move, but the flipside is that if Takeru makes a good hand, he can get paid off. He just has to wait for that big hand to come."

Karns pushed out seven purples, the price to see a flop.

"Daniel Karns has king queen, offsuit, more than good enough to play. Do you like the raise from Takeru, Koushiro?"

"When you're heads up, I honestly feel that...you should be raising from the button ninety-five percent of the time. When you have the button in heads up, it's just...the cards barely matter, I would almost always raise. You can start telling a story for later in the hand, you can occasionally just pick up a pot without having to play, you can get value when you have a big hand, you can build a pot to win later...I would just always raise. A suited ace is a great hand in heads up."

After a quick burn, the flop of a four of spades, eight of diamonds, and jack of spades emerged.

"Four eight jack...two spades, so...pretty gentle flop. A pair of fours for Takeru, and two overs and two backdoor draws for Daniel."

"Gentle flop, but...good chance for Takeru to get value from a marginal hand. There's thirteen point eight million in this pot, and I LOVE a continuation bet from Takeru here."

Karns checked over to Takeru, who needed a moment before beginning to gather some of his supplies together.

"Well...obviously, flopping a pair in heads up is good, but...Takeru has bottom pair, it's kind of hard to get called by worse, if he gets check-raised he's gonna have to fold...is a continuation bet really the right play here, Koushiro? Why do you like it?"

Takeru slowly stacked up six platinum chips, putting a purple atop it, putting the small tower out past his cards.

"Some players would definitely check behind, because they have marginal showdown value and want to control the size of the pot, but...the reason why I like this is that Takeru would have done this with a lot of different hands. It looks like a completely standard continuation bet that he would do with literally any two cards. So, Daniel is likely to call here, just because he's not yet giving Takeru credit for having anything, and two overcards is actually good enough to call. Two overcards might even be the best hand. So Takeru is getting good value out of a hand as weak as a pair of fours."

Sure enough, Karns put together an identical chip stack and tossed it in.

"Yeah, Daniel doesn't want to just auto-fold a hand as good as king queen, even after mostly missing this flop. Takeru is just way too capable of playing exactly this way with a hand like nine seven or six five."

The dealer burned and turned over the ace of spades.

"And that turn card spices things up! Takeru Ishida now has two pair, aces and fours, but Daniel Karns picks up a flush draw AND a straight draw. Any spade gives him the second nut flush, any ten gives him a straight!"

After a few seconds, Karns checked for a second time, sending the action over to Takeru.

"Karns will check his combo draw. He's still a significant underdog, but he's got quite a few outs now."

"Yeah, and this is another reason to bet the flop. A card like this could come. Now the pot is bloated, so it's less likely Daniel can fold to a bet since there's so much money out there now. And now, I'm assuming Takeru is sizing up a bet here, it looks like he MIGHT be continuing to bluff when he bets. Good spot. Twenty-six point eight million out there, it's about to be a lot more."

Slowly, Takeru slid out two stacks of seven platinum chips.

"Fourteen million! Quite a sizable bet, and a very good one from the youngster!"

"Yeah, puts Karns in a tough spot. I imagine he's calling, but he can't be loving it."

Deliberately, Karns counted out an array of purple chips, getting together twenty-eight of them. When he had the proper count, he called, pushing chips in towards the center of the table.

"Daniel will call the large bet, and...this pot has blown up. Fifty-four point eight million! And Daniel Karns is participating in it with nothing but king high and a combo draw."

The river card, a four of hearts, completed the board.

"Another four on the river! That gives Takeru a full house, fours full of aces!"

Again, Daniel quickly checked, tapping the felt with his right hand.

"That's the good news for Takeru. The bad news, Daniel is stuck with a naked king high, so it's hard to get paid off. A king would have been good, the king of diamonds, Karns would have had a pair to at least consider heroing."

Again, Takeru put together troops, moving chips around in front of him, seemingly organizing the multi-colored discs.

"Takeru could save us all some time and just check, Karns can't possibly call any bet. But when you have a full house, you tend to bet, so expect to see a good portion of Takeru's chips go in as a wager."

"He should definitely bet big. Something like two-thirds the pot, maybe more. There is an opportunity here to exploit, but I think the best way to exploit it is a large bet."

Takeru got one full stack of platinum chips out. And then another. Finally, almost to add a bit of levity, he placed one platinum chip atop the two large towers. Then, the entire structure went in.

"That is a forty-one MILLION chip bet from Takeru, WOW! Nearly three-fourths of the pot. Takeru wants to go for maximum value, and with a hand that good, I can't blame him."

"Well, Takeru is hoping that Karns has a flush, but...he obviously doesn't. If he does, he played this hand horribly, so...maybe Daniel can have the other four, that's not completely unreasonable."

Daniel took a long sip of water from a clear plastic bottle to his right. "Hm."

"And...Daniel has not yet put his cards where they belong, into the muck. What might he be thinking? Koushiro, is this what you were talking about?"

"Yeah, I...I'm not convinced this is a snap-fold for Karns. The way this hand has played out, and the way Takeru has played it, it's actually kind of suspicious."

"Well, if Karns thinks he can put in a big raise to blow Takeru off his hand, I think he's in a for a big disappointment. Takeru will be more than happy to stick all of his chips into the middle with this hand."

Daniel drummed his hands along the table a few times, bobbing his head around.

"I actually think he's considering calling. I think he might think he has the best hand."

"Okay...forty-one million." Karns began to gathered up platinum, putting up full stacks of the valuable chips in front of him.

"Just to recap, Daniel Karns is holding king high. He has king queen, no pair except for the pair on the board, which loosely translates to having squat! In what universe can he contemplate a call?! Koushiro, what has caused Karns to want to set forty-one million chips on fire?!"

"Well, it's all about the logic of the hand so far."

"Alright." Karns had his stack of forty-one million in front of him, hanging in limbo between Karns's stack and the pot. "Lemme see here."

"Let's pretend for a second that Takeru was bluffing. He raised preflop because he had the button, he continuation bet the flop because that's what you do when you're bluffing. And then, on the turn, we get an ace. IF Takeru was bluffing on the flop, he would definitely bet again on the turn when the ace comes up. Because, when you bluff the flop and the ace hits the turn, you have to keep bluffing, and try to make it look like you have an ace and that ace just hit you. So if Takeru WAS bluffing, which he's clearly not, this is pretty much exactly what he would do."

"I don't...I don't think you have good cards," Karns said slowly, looking over at Takeru.

"Next, let's say Takeru had a hand like...jack ten, eight nine, pocket sevens, basically hands that are one pair hands. Those hands would bet the flop, like Takeru did, but they're not likely to bet the turn when the ace comes, because the ace is a scare card."

"I really don't think you have good cards," Daniel said again. "I could...I could definitely be wrong."

"So when Takeru bets big on the turn, he's polarizing his range. At that point, he either has an ace, something better, or he has nothing. And now he's betting big again on the river, and...I don't even think he'd do this with an ace. Even ace king or ace queen, he at least wouldn't bet this big, but he might not bet at all. He'd have to have ace eight or better."

"I really hope I'm not wrong," Karns said.

"So Takeru's value hands here are basically...ace eight, ace jack, flushes, and full houses. And meanwhile, he has dozens of potential bluffs, all sorts of straight draws and flush draws that might have missed, and Karns is beating all of those hands with king high. Plus, that four pairing on the river seems like it should scare Takeru since Karns is far more likely to have a four than Takeru is, so it's also suspicious that he bet again. The last question is, is Takeru capable of bluffing here, and I think the answer is clearly yes. I mean, I would call, but...I'm a cash game player, so...you might want to fold for ICM reasons, but I personally would call this."

Karns shoved his chip stack forward.

"Full house," Takeru said quickly, turning over his cards.

"Whoa!" Karns gasped out, looking over at Takeru's cards. "Whoa, yeah...that's good." He nodded, flicking his cards over in front of the dealer. "Yeah, that's way good," he said with a small laugh.

"And Daniel Karns has never been more wrong in his life than he was right there! A HUGE pot heads Takeru's way, and this entire match feels like it's shifted dramatically!"

"That was a great play from Takeru, he played without fear and got maximum value out of his hand, and now he's well in the chip lead. Great job by him, making his hand look like it could have been a bluff."

"Daniel Karns is down, but he's far from out, can he bounce back from that blow? It feels like things might have just shifted!"

Karns gave a sheepish smile and shrug.

OOO

Takeru caught the small white button chip, placing it down in front of his chip stack.

"Takeru's got the button, and he's got the chip lead. It's a BIG chip lead, he's got two hundred and twenty two million chips. With Karns holding seventy-eight million, and with blinds at two and four million, ANY hand has potential to be the last."

Two cards were sent out to each player.

"Yeah, ever since that big hand about forty minutes ago with the full house and Daniel heroing with king high, Takeru's just slowly inched his way further upwards. There shouldn't really be momentum in poker, but it really does feel like that hand shifted the direction of this match."

Takeru gathered up six platinum chips and a purple one, tossing them forward alongside his small blind.

"Takeru raises to eight and a half million, just a touch more than the minimum raise, and he's got...the seven of diamonds and five of spades. He's been making the minimum raise pretty much every time he's on the button, I wonder if that extra half million means anything."

"I doubt it, it's...just such a small difference, I don't think it's capable of doing anything than the minimum raise wouldn't have done. Maybe he grabbed the purple chip on accident."

Karns, bobbing his head around, looking down at his two cards. Queen and six, both diamonds.

"Suited queen for Daniel, worth a call. Daniel has...about twenty big blinds left, so we are getting in range for a shove if he gets a hand he likes enough."

Karns tossed out four platinum chips and a purple chip.

"Daniel makes the call, he's got the best hand at the moment. And, Koushiro, you mentioned earlier that Daniel wanted this match to go on as long as possible. That seems to be the case to this point, this heads up portion has been going for quite some time now, but it hasn't gone his way yet."

"Yeah, and...despite the fact that he's fallen behind, he's not in desperation mode yet. If he were to win one all-in hand, he'd actually have the chip lead. As long as you're position to gain the chip lead with one all-in, you're not in that bad a shape. He's actually done a good job at hanging around a reasonable stack size despite not winning many hands."

The flop came out. Five of diamonds, jack of diamonds, five of clubs.

"Aaaand it's all going in."

"Five jack five, two diamonds on the flop, and we've got action! Takeru has flopped trip fives, and Daniel Karns has flopped a queen high flush draw! This could be the hand!"

Karns checked, tapping the table a few times.

"Daniel checks over to the preflop raiser."

"Yeah, and Daniel...it's a paired board, so he's happy to take a free card and try to hit his flush on the turn if Takeru wants to give it. But if Takeru bets here, and I imagine he will, then I have to believe Karns will raise."

Takeru shuffled his chips around, staring over at Daniel intently.

"And this is a really unfortunate spot for Karns. He's definitely going to be committed to this hand at this point, a queen high flush draw is just too good in heads up to throw away, but...he's way behind, he's a three to one underdog. I don't see how he doesn't get all his chips in at some point before the turn."

Takeru got out a full stack of purple chips, deliberately shoving it out.

"Ten million from Takeru. Every reason to believe he's got the best hand right now with his trip fives. What is Daniel gonna do?"

Karns looked over at the flop again, blinking rapidly as he did so.

"He's got about sixty nine million chips left."

"If he knew that Takeru had trip fives, he would just call and re-evaluate on the turn. But I think he's going to raise. And he's not going to like the end result."

Karns exhaled out slowly, then grabbed a full stack of platinum. He cut it up into four stacks of five each, counting each column, then putting it back into one stack again.

"Obviously, we can see the hole cards of both players, so we know raising here is a mistake, but from Daniel's perspective it's basically all he can do. Takeru can have literally anything. He raised preflop on the button, which he could do with anything, and now he's continuation betting after being checked to, which he could do with anything. So he could easily have...ace high, king high...even nine high or seven high. And Karns would definitely like to raise and blow him off hands like that right now."

Karns grabbed a second stack of platinum, cutting it in half, then into quarters. One of those quarters joined the initial stack, and twenty-five chips went forward into the pot.

"Yup, Daniel raises to twenty-five million. That's more than one third of what he has left."

Takeru watched the dealer count out the chips.

"Yeah, and...it's the right move from Karns. There are so many hands Takeru can reasonably have here that he's going to have to fold now. But Takeru has one of the hands that he's never even going to consider folding."

Takeru tilted his head down slightly, looking at his chip pile.

"When you bet and raise with a draw, like Karns has...it's called a semi-bluff. And the reason why you do it is that you're happy with either result. If you bet and your opponent folds, that's great, because you don't have a made hand yet and you're happy with the hand being over without you having to make one. And if your opponent calls, that's okay too, because you have a pretty good chance of making a big hand, since you have a draw."

Takeru began gathering together chips, going through his truly massive piles with his large hands.

"So the idea is that, some of the time, your opponent will fold, which is good because you get to win right then. And then some of th etime, you get called, but that's okay too because you have equity. But, if there's no chance of your opponent folding, then the semi-bluff loses a lot of it's value. And there's no chance Takeru folds here."

Takeru got fifteen platinum chips out in front of him, then, added a full platinum stack alongside it. The thirty-five million went out into the pot.

"Takeru has raised it up to forty-five million. So...Daniel's got about forty-four million left, it's twenty million to call...he's got three different options, which of the three is best?"

Karns began going through his stacks one at a time, tabulating where he stood.

"At this point, it's VERY unlikely that Takeru is bluffing, so I feel like Daniel can rule that out. But he could have a hand like...jack ten, queen jack, king jack, ace jack...something like that, a one pair hand that is vulnerable. And those hands, Takeru could be put in a difficult spot if Daniel raises all-in, because there are quite a few hands that he has to worry about. So it's still possible that Daniel can capture some fold equity by moving in here, but...we know he has trip fives, so there's no fold equity."

Karns nodded his head violently a few times. "Lemme...lemme see here..."

"His hand is still too good to fold. Calling doesn't leave you with enough chips to matter. So yeah, he's gotta go with it, and hope that Takeru has something like jack ten."

"I'm all-in," Karns announced.

Takeru couldn't wait to reply, immediately standing up. "I call."

"AND THERE IT IS! Daniel Karns has staked his tournament life on a flush draw, and he's way behind against the trip fives of Takeru Ishida!"

The entire room began to buzz loudly, Takeru beginning to pace around, putting his hands up behind his head. Karns, with a look of solemn disappointment, revealed his queen high flush draw.

"And the biggest grand prize in the HISTORY of poker rides on these next two cards. Takeru is a three to one favorite, and if his hand holds up, he's the new One Drop champion!"

Takeru began to swing his arms back and forth aimlessly, like a small child with more energy than he knew what to do with.

"Just don't drop it to zero on the turn," Karns said, standing up and pointing at the board. "Just don't put down a seven, jack, or five." He gave a small smile. "Just make the river a sweat, give me a chance, and I'm good."

"Karns needs a diamond to make his flush, he can also hit running sixes or running queens to make higher trips."

The dealer, with a few pats to the felt, burned a card and flipped over the three of hearts.

"Still alive!" Karns said, almost sarcastically raising his hands up in the air in celebration. "I'm still drawing live! Feels like a victory!"

Takeru put his hands up to cover his mouth, eyes wide as saucers.

"This morning, Takeru was one of the short stacks, and had gone all-in with thirteen percent equity, on the verge of exiting in nineteenth place. And now, he's one card away from taking home the biggest tournament grand prize ever. The beauty of No Limit Holdem."

"Daniel Karns needs a diamond, and it can't be the three of diamonds. Sixteen percent equity. If he gets lucky and hits, he'll actually be the chip leader, but if he misses, he'll settle for second. Here come the biggest river card of the world series so far!"

Takeru and Daniel both went over by the front side of the table, shaking each other's hands. The cube of money between the pair, looming over everything.

"You know, who am I to get in the way of a new record?" Daniel said jokingly. "Right? I mean, four bracelets in one year, I'd have to be a horrible person to interfere with something like that."

"Out of our hands now," Takeru said through gritted teeth, sounding a bit out of breath.

The river card was dealt out. Two of hearts.

Takeru grabbed the sides of his head, almost violently crouching his body down towards the floor in an uncontrolled outburst of physical activity. He sprung back up to his feet, thrusting his right arm up into the air, turning towards his collection of friends, who wasted no time in the tradition of piling over the railing and coming towards him. Daniel could only offer a small shrug and smile, flipping his two cards over towards the dealer.

"And...that...will do it! Takeru Ishida is our new One Drop champion!"

As the mass of bodies met right near the table, Sammy went over to the giant cube of money. Circling around the table to the other side, he pushed the structure of cash over, causing the bricks of money to cascade all over everyone.

Takeru, still seemingly overloaded on energy and adrenaline, gave off some loud joyful scream that didn't sound entirely human, throwing his right hand up into the air violently on repeat.

"It's a victory for Takeru, he continues one of the most amazing world series runs in history! It's a victory for Daniel, he becomes the top earner in the history of tournament poker! And it's a victory for Alec Tremblay and One Drop, they have earned over twelve million dollars to go towards their charitable works!"


	26. Moving Up In Limits

Chapter 26: Moving Up In Limits

Most of the inhabitants of The Horseshoe's hotel area preferred to have their breakfast delivered to their rooms via room service, particularly this early in the day. So the actual restaurant was sparsely populated at the moment, just a scattering of customers around. Were it not for the impeccable decor, it would have an awful lot in common with a dive bar, on it's last legs before going out of business.

Manned by a skeleton crew for another couple hours, it was just the right time. Casually, Takeru strolled in through the archway between the restaurant and the casino, hands in the pockets of his suit jacket, eyes scanning the front lobby area, quickly finding the maitre d' behind a wooden standing desk.

"Morning, sir, and..." the man, tall and thin, wearing the hotel uniform he had become so familiar with recently, gave Takeru a look of recognition as he actually examined him for a moment. "...you, you wouldn't happen to be—"

"Yeah, it's me," Takeru said with a thin smile. "Morning."

"Oh, wow!" The man's eyes lit up, and he slid out from behind the desk. "Y-you, you're really something else, I was watching last night, it's...I don't think I've seen you in here before!"

"I haven't had much time for restaurants recently," Takeru responded quickly, looking around the front area, seeing nobody else nearby.

"How many, just one?" he asked, tilting his head a bit to look behind Takeru, looking for someone else.

"None, actually." Takeru reached his right hand into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. Reflexively, the maitre d' took a step away from Takeru. "No no, it's fine, don't worry." Takeru pulled out a thick collection of paper bills, held together by large rubber bands. He then reached his left hand into the opposite side of his jacket, pulling out an identical one.

"Uh..." the man stood there for a second, staring down at the massive amount of money. "W-well, the most expensive thing on our menu right now would be...we have a mega breakfast platter for ninety-five dollars."

"Pass." Takeru handed the two bricks of cash to the man. "Twenty-five thousand of that is for the employees. To share." He leaned in a little closer towards the man's face. "TO SHARE. Got it?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah, no...no problem," he replied, voice shaking a bit.

"The rest, one seventy-five thousand, covers everything that gets ordered in this place until it runs out. The next one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars worth of orders in here are covered by this, understood?"

"Uh...yeah, we can...we can arrange for that." He nodded a few times.

"If it doesn't happen, I'll hear about it, and I won't be happy," Takeru said simply.

"Hey, right now, you're...you're one of the last people in the world I want to not be happy," he said. "Sure, twenty-five thousand for the employees to share, the rest zeroes out all future tabs. Done."

Takeru nodded, turning around. "I'll be checking in later, and I have your name. Don't do something you'll regret."

OOO

~Hikari~

"I'm telling you, this is how a organization like the World Series can nickel and dime the players and get hidden profit," Miyako said, holding one of the bricks of cash in her hands. She was kneeling down on the carpeted floor of Takeru's hotel room, undoing the rubber band holding it together. "Do you guys want to let them just get away with it?"

"You know what, if they're actually shortchanging tournament winners, more power to them." Daisy was sitting upside-down on the couch, her head nearly touching the floor and her feet dangling up on the backrest. She looked over at Miyako, looking rather silly from her bizarre vantage point. "Or, not more power to them, that wouldn't be cool, but the point is, I'm NOT going to sit here all day and count through twenty-five million dollars in cash."

"You know, it would actually be illegal if there wasn't twenty-five million dollars here." Miyako pointed at the staggering haul of money a few feet to her right. The one hundred thousand dollar bricks were stacked into a cube-like structure, like it had been on the poker table down below, except it had been hollowed out and had no 'roof'. A simple four-walled structure. "And it would be so easy for them to do it, because of course they would assume they could get away with it."

"Okay, just for the sake of argument, let's say you end up being right." Sammy, holding a tall, thin glass of a red liquid, went up behind the couch. "So we count through all this money and it's...three bills short, is Takeru really going to go to the board of directors and complain?"

"Yeah, he would!" Miyako insisted. "You guys all know Takeru, he's...he's a perfectionist, he would totally raise a ruckus if he got stiffed a few hundred. We should count it a few times."

"A few times?" Akira said with a bit of incredulity in his voice. "Hey, I mean, if that's how you want to spend your day off, feel free, but...there's a reason why people are told to count things when they want to fall asleep. Pass."

"Hey, this isn't just his money, this is all our money too, we all have pieces of this," Miyako said. "It affects all of us, and someone should be policing the world series to make sure they don't try to get away with stuff."

"Would they even care?" Daisy asked, spreading her arms out to her sides. "I mean, what, a bunch of kids go up to the directors, say they stiffed the One Drop winner...three hundred dollars or whatever, what then? Do they...do they even believe us?"

Miyako rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, I...whatever. You know I counted through every bill of Ken's cash prize from Deuce Seven."

"And...?" Daryl asked, emerging from the bathroom. "What happened?"

"Well, obviously, it was all in order, or else I would have raised hell," Miyako said. "But that doesn't mean they're doing it right every time."

"We could get one of those machines that counts bills," Sammy offered. "You know, you feed money through it, and it counts? If it means so much to you."

"That's just as boring as counting it," Daisy protested. "Feeding it through a machine, a quarter million bills, I'm not doing that either."

"You could hire someone to feed the bills through the machine," Yuma suggested, also coming up behind the couch, looking down at Daisy's rather bizarre body position.

"But then you have to pay the people you hire, so whatever money you recover from a theoretical shortchange just goes to them," Daryl pointed out.

"Okay, then, use slaves to count it," Hido chimed in, sitting on the staircase leading up to the bedrooms. "Or weigh it on a precision scale. Or maybe don't be a crazy person and grandstand over a few hundred dollars after winning twenty-five million. One of those is definitely the smart way to proceed."

"Alright, fine, I'll drop it," Miyako said, pretending to sound hurt. "But we do need to split up some of these bricks and count out the bills so we can divide it up properly." She peered her head up, looking over at the money, still standing in a simple four wall structure. "Hey, you're the fastest counter here, gimme a hand."

Ken's head suddenly emerged from the open top of the money, looking over at his girlfriend. "I'm sorry, are you addressing me? Because your authority is not recognized here in FORT KICKASS."

Miyako rolled her eyes again. "Get out of there, you've been in there forever."

"Yeah, listen to your girl, get out of there," Sammy instructed, motioning his thumb over his shoulder. "It's my turn."

Suddenly, the front door to the hotel room creaked open, Takeru entering as he shrugged his suit jacket off. Quickly, he turned to his right, finding Hikari, standing there by the door, holding a steaming ceramic cup in her hands.

"Alright, these jokers do anything while I was gone?" he asked Hikari, straightening his jacket out in his hands, firmly making sure it was creased in the proper spots. "Anything I should know about?"

"What, you've got her spying on us?" Ken said, carefully standing up, then jumping over the low wall of money that made up the makeshift fort. "Come on, nobody's stealing from you, least of all us."

"I know you're not stealing from me," Takeru said dismissively. "But you saying something makes me think you're guilty."

"Well, he definitely went over his allotted timeslot in Fort Kickass," Hikari agreed, nodding. "So, your read is correct."

"See? This is the shit I have to deal with from these people," Takeru said, going over to a dining table chair and propping his suit jacket up on the backrest. "I leave for twenty minutes and complete anarchy breaks out, it's incredible how out of line everyone gets." He went over to Ken. "Buddy, that fort is for everyone."

Ken shrugged, giving a small smirk. "Okay, you caught me."

"And..." Takeru spun around, looking over towards the couch, over at Daisy, still splayed out bizarrely in an upside-down pose, blonde hair splayed out on the carpet. "What are you doing?"

Daisy pointed over at Takeru. "What are you doing?"

Takeru opened his mouth to reply, then shrugged. "Yeah, whatever, okay...let's divide this sucker up." He cleared his throat, walking over towards the fort. "Alright, what's ten percent of twenty-five million?"

Daisy, raising an eyebrow, suddenly tilted her body back up, bringing her legs down across the couch and towards the floor, looking over at Takeru. "Seriously?"

"I've been doing math for the last two days," Takeru said. "Every kind of math there is, pot odds, implied odds, reverse odds, ICM, pay jumps, equity, sizing...I'm taking the day off from math, you guys figure it out."

"If you have a problem with doing math, you might have the wrong profession," Sammy suggested, standing up inside the fort.

"So you want me to do your math for you?" Ken said, squinting his eyes a bit and looking up towards the ceiling. "God, what's with this sudden rush of nostalgia for academy?"

"Hey, that was one time, and you owed it to me," Takeru protested quickly. "I'm just taking the day off from complex calculations. You have NO idea how much heavier those calculations become when the prize pool is ninety million dollars." He rubbed his eyes with his palms.

Hikari took a long sip from the steaming mug in her hands, thoroughly enjoying the scene of wealthy young adults act in such a bizarre and amusing fashion.

"You know, something occurred to me after you left," Daisy suddenly chimed in, getting to her feet and stretching her back out. "The people who stay at this hotel and eat at the restaurant downstairs, not really hurting for money. Most of them are actually doing great. Maybe not the most useful place for that extra two hundred grand to go."

"Just think of it as a thank you to The Horseshoe," Takeru replied. "Besides, I already gave a hundred thousand to the less fortunate when I signed up for One Drop."

"Well...you gave twenty-five thousand," Ken corrected. "Just saying. We gave the rest."

"Sure, whatever," Takeru said, waving his hand in Ken's direction. "That hundred thousand only went to them because I agreed to play. Point is, sometimes it's good to give money to the...more...fortunate too. That's a social class that tends to be ignored when trying to find people to donate to, for some reason."

"You could have tossed it out the window," Daryl suggested, pointing out at the balcony. "Let the pedestrians fight for it."

"And caused the traffic accident to end all traffic accidents," Takeru countered. "Alright, let's chop this up." He looked around the room. "Anyone figure out what ten percent of twenty-five million is yet?"

OOO

"If anyone asks, this was my prize winnings in the main event," Daisy said, stacking the bricks of money up in front of her, in two stacks of ten bricks and one stack of five out on the floor in front of her. Finally, she began to place the money into a large velvet bag on the floor next to her.

"I feel like a bank robber," Ken mentioned, holding up his own sack full of cash. "There's a real wholesome quality to actually directly interacting with large amounts of money. I should definitely cut out time to do it more often at home."

"I'm just kind of bummed I missed out on Fort Kickass," Koushiro mentioned, filling his own little bag with bricks of money.

"We can build our own Fort Kickass when we get home," Mimi suggested, going up next to her boyfriend and grabbing his right forearm. "We could even make it big enough for two, if you get my meaning."

Koushiro gave a wry smile. "It's not good to give me things to look forward to after the main event." He stood up off the floor, grabbing the bag's handles. "Gonna distract me."

"Well, ninety percent chance that you're out of the main event in a few hours, so probably won't mean much," Takeru said.

"Sure, but you have to prepare for the other ten percent," Koushiro replied. "Anyway, thanks very much." He held the bag up in the air before lowering it back to his side. "I've never backed someone and had them come through like this before."

Takeru nodded. "Wish this run could go on forever. Just been absolutely insane."

"Just realize it's not always gonna be like this," Koushiro added. "Trust me, I've been playing professionally for a few years now...you will have months where you lose millions. Just be ready to ride it out."

"Alright, let's all give the champ some space," Miyako said. "Come on, let's go, we've all gotten our cuts."

"Well, what about Ole's piece?" Sammy suddenly chimed in. "He's got to get some of this. Couldn't have done it without him."

"Valid point," Daisy said, getting to her feet.

"Still can't believe he actually played aces like that," Akira chimed in, heading towards the door. "Call, check-call, check-fold, that's...you know Ole's an elite player too, some of the shit he's done." He rubbed his forehead. "So insane."

"If he called, a nine would have come on the river," Takeru suggested. "That's probably what he's telling himself right now."

"Hey, getting opposing players to play bad can be a skill," Koushiro interjected. "You...your table talk, your play style to that point in the tournament, it all got him to make a bad fold, that's not something that appears out of thin air."

"Sure," Takeru said. "But it was still a bad fold."

Slowly, everyone in the room except for the two residents filtered their way over to the door, clutching bags with large amounts of cash in them. Takeru and Hikari simply stood there, in the middle of the room, watching their guests depart.

After about a minute, Yuma had closed the door behind him. Slowly, Takeru turned to Hikari. Hikari just stood there, watching him out of the corner of his eyes.

Suddenly, he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her waist. He lifted her up in the air a bit, gripping her tight to his chest.

"Oh my GOD, I'm never letting you out of my sight," Takeru said, slowly easing her back down to the floor.

"You know, I spent like ten minutes trying to...like, send...mental commands to Ole to get him to fold," Hikari said. "That might have had something to do with it."

"I've never taken drugs in my life before, but I imagine this is kind of what it feels like. I mean like, cocaine, that's what this must feel like." Takeru released her, taking a step back from her. "I should be dead tired, sleeping all day to get ready for tomorrow, but...let's go out and do some stuff!" He pointed back towards the room's front door. "Yeah, let's go out for awhile."

"You're the boss," Hikari replied.

OOO

Maybe, with time and practice, she'd get used to it. Even come to enjoy it. But right now, as she subconsciously used her left hand to tug at the various contact points, she found this outfit to be the most uncomfortable thing she had even worn.

"I really hope I look good in this," she muttered, lifting herself up a bit to pull her chair in closer to the table.

"No, it looks very nice on you," Takeru insisted from the other side of the small, circular dining table.

Takeru hadn't been shy about wanting to express gratitude for whatever 'luck' Hikari had brought his way in recent times, and was letting her do whatever she felt like trying. She was probably amusing him with her child-like fascination with some of the things she saw, but was happy to go along with it. She was oddly captivated by the arcade, finding the public access to such entertainment devices to be fascinating. Despite her introduction into a circle of friends and a much more relaxed life, she was enthralled by getting exposed to an even wider array of culture. Takeru showed her more and more in the world of public entertainment, and she found all of it captivating.

"How does...how does Daisy wear stuff like this every day?" Hikari grunted, reaching down and pulling at the back of her opened-toed heels.

"She's a model, she practically came out of the womb wearing things like that," Takeru answered, setting a small menu down on the table in front of him.

When Takeru had offered to buy her some more expensive clothing, she jumped at the opportunity to be granted something that someone like her would never expect to get. But now that she was actually wearing the blue dress and white heels, even though she appreciated the silken fabric of the dress and how the heels increased her height, she was also aware of how the subtle details in the design of the dress made her just a little too aware of it's presence on her body. And the shoes constricted on her feet, creating a sensation that she just had very little experience with before in her life.

"Well, I'll...I've certainly lived through worse," Hikari admitted. "Alright, what do they have here?"

After the whirlwind of visiting places all across Branson City, they had found themselves at an expensive restaurant, an appropriate place for Hikari to showcase her new outfit. So now, she was attempting to find some sort of equilibrium with it all.

"Oh, the usual, I'm just...I'll get one of these platters, we'll figure out what's good here from that." He reached his right hand up behind his head, scratching the back of his neck. "World's a pretty interesting place, huh?"

"Definitely," Hikari agreed, nodding. "Kind of amazing what you don't realize exists when you're boxed in your whole life."

"There's actually a real thrill for me in exposing someone to things like this." Takeru took a sip from a glass of water. "Video games, music, all those sorts of things, it's fun." He glanced over his shoulder, then back to Hikari. "If you want me to, I'll show you the entire planet. After all this is over, I'm gonna be combing the globe, jumping from country to country, getting into the biggest games I can get into. Cash games, tournaments, whatever I can find." He pointed a small fork over at Hikari. "You stick with me, you'll see everything."

"I can't say no to that," Hikari replied. "Literally and figuratively."

Takeru jerked his head back a little bit. "But you'd...you'd like that, right?"

"Oh, absolutely," Hikari responded. "I spent the first nineteen years of my life barely allowed to ever leave the house, you think I don't want to get out and see things? Yeah, wherever the biggest games are, let's go, I'll be there with you."

"Good, I...I really, really don't want to mess with things," Takeru said. "If it was up to me, you'd be present for every poker hand I play for the rest of my life."

"It is up to you," Hikari reminded him. "It's completely up to you, that's how this works."

Takeru gave a curt nod. "Yeah, I...anyway...I've also got one other thing going on, I'd really like to have you around for it. After the main event is over, there's some business I want to try to take a stab at resolving. It's important to me, I'd...I have something I'd like to make go away."

Hikari's eyebrows went up a fraction of an inch. "Sounds interesting."

"Hopefully, it'll be easy, but...I mean, probably not, so...I'm not gonna go into the details right now, in fact, I shouldn't even be thinking about it right now, but I just would like you to be there." He gave a light chuckle. "Wow, listen to me, taking this superstition stuff so seriously."

"You're twelve million dollars in the black over the last two months," Hikari pointed out. "I think I deserve a little more credit than just being considered a superstition."

Takeru gave a wry nod. "Sure, sorry, I...imagine how much I'd be up if I didn't act like an idiot for two weeks."

"No, you didn't," Hikari insisted. "It was...I shouldn't have tried to talk about something like that."

"No, I...I should have handled things differently," Takeru said quickly. "I definitely should have done things differently. I'm, uh...I'm just not used to being told no." He shrugged.

"Who would say no to you?" Hikari said wryly, lifting her water glass to her lips.

"Still feels like a dream," Takeru continued. "Four bracelets, twelve million dollars in the black...and all the credibility that comes with it." He smiled. "I could show up to the main event tomorrow morning and eat all my chips before the first hand gets dealt and I'd still have the greatest single year world series run of all time."

"Yeah, and you did most of it while not getting any...hey, you know, just to say it, I wouldn't be remotely upset or offended if you wanted a girl for the evening in the hotel room," Hikari said quickly. "Have one of the Angels from The Mecca flown in, I...I understand, you have expectations, needs, just because I...I wouldn't mind."

Takeru raised an eyebrow, glancing up towards the ceiling. "It really hasn't bothered me that much, actually. Not as much as I thought it would." He blinked a few times. "And I...I've sort of decided that I'm done with all that."

"What, sex?" Hikari asked.

Takeru snorted out of his nose, reaching up to cover his nose as he did so. "N-no, hell no, what...oh, no, not at all," he said, laughing to himself. "No, to hell with that, I just mean...I think I do want something more serious." He nodded. "I've had fun, but...I want what Ken has. I've thought about it a lot lately."

"Well, that's great," Hikari said earnestly. "I'm happy for you."

"Oh, hey, look at that, you're already spending some of the money you ripped away from me."

Hikari's head snapped over to her right, finding a familiar face in a light blue suit coming up next to Takeru. She watched the man stick his hand over towards Takeru, Takeru quickly taking it and shaking it.

"Oh, what do you know?" Takeru beamed up at the man. "Daniel, you're eating here too, huh?"

"Oh, no, I've just been following you around all day," Daniel said dryly. "You know, spying on you, changing disguises every half-hour. That's the kind of stuff you do when someone sticks their hand into your heart and rips it out, along with twenty-five million dollars!"

"Hey, you got second place money," Takeru countered. "At least be accurate about it. You got over fifteen million out of it, I 'ripped' ten million from you."

"Yeah, but..." he gave a small hiss. "I got paid my check, it's not nearly as fun that way." Daniel grinned. "Seriously though, well played. I felt really good going into the heads up too, I really liked my chances."

Takeru swallowed down. "You were looking good at first, I was bleeding at the start of it." He set his fork down on the tablecloth. "Getting you to call with king high, that was...I'll cherish that memory."

"Yeah, you should," Daniel said. "I...I really thought you had ten nine or something. Nice life though, right? You get Ole Schneider to lay down aces when you've got the king high, and then you get me to call with king high when you've got the fours full." He looked over at Hikari, pointing his index finger over at her. "Oh, who's this? Girlfriend? Am I interrupting something?"

"I...I guess, but don't worry about it, and no, she's...well, her name is Hikari, she's my...good luck charm," Takeru said somewhat begrudgingly. "Yeah yeah, I know, good luck charms are for kids, but in my defense, I'm still a—"

"Oh, no!" Daniel insisted. "Dude, don't even start with that, I've got a card protector that my grandmother made for me when I was younger that I always have with me when I play for good luck, trust me, I get it."

Takeru pursed his lips. "I...I didn't see you using a card protector at any tournaments."

Daniel laughed. "Yeah, because I kept losing when I used it!" He reached inside his jacket pocket, pulling out a small slice of a dark wood that had been carefully carved into a shape resembling an ace of spades. "But when I had it with me, but left it in my pocket, I would win, so...I don't use it. I just have it on me, always."

Takeru craned his head up to look at the little trinket. "Makes sense."

Daniel slipped it back into his pocket. "So yeah, don't even say stuff like that, I'm all about the good luck stuff. Most players are, trust me." He looked back over at Hikari, face wrinkling a bit in mock disgust. "That being said, I guess I can't like you. You're part of the problem."

Hikari's smile fell a bit.

"Yeah, you're his good luck charm, if you weren't there I might have won yesterday, get outta my sight!" he continued, before grinning again and taking a step towards her, extending his hand out. "A human being as a good luck charm is actually pretty cool, I haven't really seen that before."

Quickly recovering, Hikari took his hand and shook it. "Thank you, sir."

"So, Daniel," Takeru began. "You ready for tomorrow? And can I actually call you Daniel, you fine with that?"

"Hey, you keep beating me, you can call me whatever you want," Daniel said, shrugging. "And yeah, the...the main event hasn't been too kind to me in my life overall. One final table, one other decent run, that's it."

"A lot of people would kill for that," Takeru pointed out, taking a drink from his glass of water again.

"It's so hard now, the field is so big." Daniel nodded. "I'll say this though. If it isn't me there at the end, I will be pulling for you."

"Well, I appreciate it," Takeru replied.

"Seriously, nobody's ever come close to the triple crown before, this might be the only time EVER someone even has a shot, who doesn't want to see that?!" Daniel bounced his head up and down a few times. "Obviously, I'm giving it all I got, but if it doesn't work out for me...I'd like to see that."

"Triple crown?" Takeru repeated. "Never heard of that before."

"Because it's never been conceived of as possible, but...here we are, right?" He held three fingers up in the air. "Fifty thousand horse, One Drop, main event. One guy winning all three in one year, inconceivable. BUT, it could actually happen."

"Twenty thousand player field," Takeru said. "I'm one guy in twenty thousand, I wouldn't hold my breath."

"But the odds are greater than zero!" Daniel countered. "That's more than it usually is at this point of the year. Nobody's ever won TWO of those three events. Nobody's ever final tabled two of those three events!" He cleared his throat. "Anyway, while I'm here...you know, when this is over, you've got a seat on Six Figure Stacks waiting for you, whenever you want it."

Takeru seemed to perk up a bit at this. "Oh really? You're sure?"

"Oh, yeah, I...I don't run the show, but believe me, the regular players have a lot of say in what happens on the show, and you're clearly someone we'd love to have on. We just want players with deep pockets and some personality, and with your track record you'll have no problem getting a seat." Daniel clapped a few times. "They're gonna start shooting again as soon as the main event is up, they shoot right here in Branson City." He pointed over at Takeru. "And, I DEFINITELY want to see you in the Panok Millions next month."

"When I was growing up, I watched Six Figure Stacks all the time," Takeru said, rubbing his nose with his fingers. "When I was at academy, we'd stream the Panok Millions. Now I'm getting invited to them by Daniel Karns."

"Hey, anyone with the money can play in the Panok Millions," Daniel pointed out. "But, trust me, a guy who's coming off the greatest world series year in history is getting into anything they want. You don't need me to invite you."

"Well, I may as well take full advantage of my fifteen minutes of fame," Takeru said, with a bit of an incredulous chuckle. "You just trying to set yourself to get back some of that ten million I took from you?"

"Oh, probably not," Daniel said. "I always do horrible on Six Figure Stacks, I doubt it'll be me." He clapped Takeru on the shoulder a couple times. "Alright, I should go order something before they try to accuse me of loitering, see ya!"

"Good talk," Takeru said, watching Daniel walk away. "Good luck tomorrow." He turned back to the table, a wistful smile on his face. "Wow."

Hikari exhaled out loudly. "So, what kind of stuff is over in Panok that I might like?"

OOO

"Nobody in the history of the world has more house money than I do right now." Takeru tugged at the lapels of his suit jacket, staring at himself in the full body-length mirror.

"I don't know what that means," Hikari replied, looking up over his shoulders, tugging on the shoulders of his jacket, getting it to lay right on his torso.

"It's okay, I'm talking to myself," Takeru mumbled, looking down at his cufflinks.

Hikari began pushing a lint roller over the back of the jacket, running rows up and down the fabric. "But what does it mean?"

"Just means that I have nothing to lose. Nothing left to prove. Whatever happens today, I'm on top of the world." He reached down to pull the waist of his pants up a bit. "Already have the greatest world series year of all time. Today is just a bonus. Freeroll."

"Well, don't think like that," Hikari suggested. "May as well give it your full attention while you're here."

"Maybe I'll go all-in blind on the first hand," Takeru said, rocking his head back and forth a bit. "Just, don't look at my cards, just shove it all-in, see what happens. Why not, right? I'd make the highlight reel for sure with a move like that."

"I guess," Hikari said, moving the roller to over in front of him. "You could. But there is one hundred and eighty million dollars in the prize pool, and it's hard for me to believe that a man like you doesn't feel a very strong pull to grab as much of that as he can."

"You know me pretty well," Takeru admitted. "But man...it'd be liberating. To just leave it up to the deck."

"Don't tell me you're letting the pressure get to you," Hikari said, almost admonishingly.

Immediately, Takeru's forehead gave a small twitch. "Triple crown?! They had to go and give it a name?! Bad enough they're even talking about it, they actually gave it a name?!" He reached up, rubbing his forehead. "They can't just...let it be as it is? It hasn't even started yet, and they're actually giving the possibility a moment's thought?"

"Oh...people need something to talk about," Hikari said, patting his back.

"I know," Takeru said resignedly. "But still...it's ridiculous...everything that I've done so far, and they...come up with some ridiculous catchphrase that they'll use IF I do more, like what I've done already isn't improbable enough." He shrugged. "I mean, if I get knocked out fast, at least that nonsense will be over and I can just think about what I've done."

"Well." Hikari slowly reached down towards her left hip. "I can't really do much to take some of the pressure off your shoulders, but..." she whipped a playing card out of her pocket, holding it up in front of Takeru's chest, the front of the card pointed over at the mirror. "I am pulling out all the stops for you."

The reflection of the mirror revealed the card to be the queen of hearts. Takeru stared at it's reflection for a few seconds.

"That wouldn't happen to be—"

"Card that saved my life," Hikari said, flipping it around and displaying the front directly to Takeru. "It's been in a drawer upstairs this whole world series, but...I figured, for the main event, I should arm myself with something extra."

Takeru smiled, nodding. He reached up with his right hand and grabbed the card. "The funny thing is, I actually think this is a good omen." He raised the front of the card up to his forehead, pressing it up against it for a second. He handed it back to Hikari. "Alright, time for the marathon of all marathons." Happy with the state of his attire, he turned away from the mirror and made his way towards the door. Hikari, slipping the card back into her shorts' pocket, followed.

"You're not gonna wear your new dress?" Takeru asked, glancing over his shoulder.

Hikari gave a little chuckle. "Maybe if you make the final table. Maybe." 


	27. Dodging Bullets

Chapter 27: Dodging Bullets

"Over twenty-thousand poker players from all around the world. From amateurs to professionals. From new faces to veterans. From millionaires to the middle-class. From legends to nobodies. You name it, we've got them here today, on Day One of the World Series of Poker Main Event."

Floods of people were pushing their way through halls, everyone making their way into the main rooms of The Horseshoe, all of which were filled with tables.

"Every space available in the building has been filled with a green felt table, we have spillover into The Valhalius Casino three blocks to the east, we have officially reached maximum insanity here at the world series!"

"We're a few minutes away from action kicking off, we've got nearly twenty three hundred tables going. Once cards get in the air, we'll put the feeds to each individual table online. Pretty amazing, we can get cameras and commentators for so many tables."

As massive crowds began to disperse to their designated tables, players took seats, slowly beginning to fill out the tables.

"So, with the biggest field in the history of tournament poker amassing here today, what should we expect?"

"Three words characterize the main event. Patience, patience, and patience. Every player will start with fifty thousand chips, and blinds start and fifty and one hundred, so everyone's got five hundred bigs. Blind levels last a whopping two hours. So players can afford to wait for big hands, not take big chances, try to find the occasional big pot, and basically just play to survive. This tournament goes on for over a week, and over eighteen thousand of these players will fail to cash, so you have to dodge a LOT of bullets just to make money. Typically, the first few days of the main event are about surviving, and the real action starts later on."

"Let's not forget the fact that we should see players a little better rested. Every other tournament runs from seven in the morning to midnight, but this one gets a late start, begins at eleven. More time for players to rest up inbetween long sessions. There will be just ten hours of play per day instead of sixteen."

"And, of course, we have storylines. Daniel Karns, already the winningest tournament player in poker history, aims for his first deep main event run in nearly a decade. Gregory Radmanovich, trying to become the first person in over twenty-five years to win the main event in back-to-back years. Phillip Kennedy, the all-time world series bracelet leader with eighteen, takes a shot at extending his record. And, of course, Takeru Ishida, taking aim at the triple crown, an unprecented fifth bracelet this year, and poker immortality. What will play out within the walls of The Horseshoe? Only time will tell."

OOO

"And the action has folded all the way around to the button, over to Takeru Ishida, he's got to be licking his lips at a situation like that."

Takeru scratched the side of his head a few times, then reached down towards his cards.

"You can be sure that Takeru will raise with anything in this situation. He's got a reasonable stack and outchips both the blinds, although not by much."

Takeru peeled up the corners of the king and jack, both clubs.

"Well, he does actually have a pretty good hand, king jack suited, All the more reason to raise."

Takeru took in a deep breath, surveying the table, then reaching down towards his chipstack.

"We're just a few minutes into day three of the World Series of Poker Main Event. The twenty-first hour of the main event total. Level eleven, the ante is two hundred, and the blinds are eight and sixteen hundred."

Takeru grabbed four black chips, putting them out in front of his face down cards.

"Takeru raises to four thousand from a stack of one hundred and twenty thousand. About eight thousand five hundred players remain in this tournament, so we're still well off the money."

"Day three is typically when things start to get bloody though. Stack sizes are just shallow enough to where one hand can break a player. Average stack size is about one hundred and eighteen thousand, or about seventy-five big blinds."

Charlie Carroll, from the small blind, had a look down at ace king, both spades.

"Charlie's got a suited ace king!"

Charlie, with only a moment of thought, grabbed up ten black chips and pushed the three-bet forward.

"And that is a three-bet to ten thousand from Charlie Carroll, and he's got Takeru in rough shape right now. Could be a pivotal moment for both these players. Gene Hawthorne folds the big blind, and what does Takeru want to do with king jack suited?"

Takeru stared down at the contents of the pot for a few seconds.

"If Takeru calls, he'll have nearly ten percent of his stack in the pot, with one hundred and ten behind and twenty three thousand four hundred total in the middle. Kind of a precarious situation if both players end up making some sort of hand. But he's getting three to one on his money with a hand that has a lot of potential, even though we know he's dominated."

Takeru put in six black chips.

"And he will call. Two to the flop, the effective stack is Charlie, he's got a hundred and five thousand behind. If we get a king high flop, expect fireworks."

The dealer put down the eight of diamonds, five of hearts, and seven of hearts.

"Eight five seven with two hearts, that is...a pretty horrific flop for both players."

"Charlie's ace high is the best hand, BUT Takeru has position, so you have to like his chances of taking this away at some point."

Carroll tapped the felt a few times with his fingertips.

"Charlie checks, he's not going to risk a continuation bet. And...Takeru has checked as well."

The dealer burned, then flipped up the six of clubs.

"Well, that six misses both players, but there's now four to a straight on the board. If these guys didn't like their hands on the flop, they must like them even less now."

Charlie tapped the table again.

"Carroll checks again, he's just hoping to get to a free showdown with the nut nothing. Will Takeru allow it? Charlie's playing his hand so face-up he may as well flip it over, take a picture of it, and post it to the internet."

Slowly, Takeru began to gather up some of his chips, cutting a stack of black chips in half and putting out the left half.

"Looks like he feels like the water is safe enough to take a stab at this pot, and I have to believe it'll work. That is a bet of ten thousand, a bit less than half of the pot. It's a bluff that's probably going to get through, this is such a horrible board for ace king of spades."

Charlie grimaced, looking down at what remained of his chips.

"Well, we know Charlie is a big favorite, but I just can't imagine him calling. A large percentage of the time he's drawing stone dead, and even if he's not there's a good chance he's dead to six outs. There's got to be a better spot."

Carroll, reaching over to grab a stack of black chips, cut it in half and pushed one of the halves into the pot.

"Well, it's the right call, so credit to Charlie for that. He must feel like he's played his hand so face-up that he has to call. And Takeru MUST be planning to bomb the river if it checks to him, and unless Carroll pairs up here I don't see how he can call. Still, very difficult spot for Ishida. He's going to have to summon up quite a bit of courage."

The dealer put out a river card, the jack of diamonds.

"Ooooor he can hit a three-outer on the river. That's good too."

Charlie checked for a third time, sending the action over to Takeru.

"Charlie checks again, clearly hoping that ace high ends up being the winner. In his defense, it very nearly would have been, brutal river."

Takeru craned his head up a little bit to have a look at Charlie's stack.

"Now, this is a spot where I would check. Takeru must feel like he probably has the best hand, but there just aren't very many hands that are worse that could call a bet, and if you bet and get check-raised, you throw up in your mouth a little bit."

This time, Takeru grabbed a full stack of black chips, and with a flick of his wrist, tossed them into the pot.

"But Takeru's not me. He's going to give Carroll a chance to hero call. This is what the kids call a 'merge', Takeru's value betting a mediocre hand in the hopes of looking like a bluff, so he can get paid off by a slightly worse hand."

Charlie, puffing his cheeks out a bit, stared down at the board.

"And unless Charlie's just putting on some theater here, he might actually be contemplating calling with ace king high."

"I'm sure Takeru did this hoping he might get hero called by a one-pair hand, an eight or a seven, but it turns out he has a chance of getting hero called by a no-pair hand."

"Ace high, by the way," Charlie said suddenly, pointing down at his cards.

Takeru's gazed snapped up a bit. "I'm sorry?"

"I have ace high," Carroll said.

"Ah, okay." Takeru nodded. "I feel better now," he said with a small laugh.

"Charlie's going fishing for a read on Ishida, so he must actually be considering making this call. Don't get me wrong, ace king high can definitely be good here, but it's for more than twenty-five percent of Charlie's remaining chips, and there are definitely better spots."

"I needed a heart," Charlie continued. "Needed a third heart."

"I put you on hearts," Takeru replied easily.

"Well, Charlie WAS telling the truth, but poker players rarely remain honest. He's trying to get Takeru to keep talking, trying to pick up on something he can use to make the right decision."

"Okay, come on now," Takeru said. "Don't waste everyone's time, you're not beating anything with ace high, don't be silly."

Carroll swallowed down hard, squinting down at the board. "Ace queen. Ace ten. King queen. King ten. Queen ten. Ace deuce suited. Ace trey suited."

Takeru blinked a couple times. "Okay, you can beat something."

"Yeah...I do. I do." Carroll swallowed down hard again. "I feel like you've got air. I really do. Why do I feel like you have nothing?"

"I feel like I have something," Takeru replied.

"Well, I'm up here in the booth for a reason, but personally, I'm not really picking up on any sort of tell on Takeru. It helps that I know what his hand is, but I'm not sure if there's anything Charlie can use here."

"You can get outplayed on this one," Takeru continued. "You really want to call off twelve and a half bigs with ace high? I made one big bluff in One Drop two days ago, and now everyone wants to make ridiculous hero calls on me?"

"Takeru brings up a good point. That massive bluff he pulled off to turn his One Drop chances around DOES seem to have affected how people are playing against him."

"Come on, just becomes I bluffed one time doesn't mean I never have it," Takeru added.

With a grunt, Charlie grabbed a stack of black chips and slapped them forward across the yellow line.

"I value bet the jack," Takeru said, turning over his hand.

Charlie could only wince in response, tossing his cards over towards the dealer. "Well, I made a great call on the turn," he muttered.

"Wow! And Charlie Carroll makes the call, and sees the bad news! Whatever read he thought he picked up on Takeru, it wasn't the right one."

Charlie extended his hand over to Takeru, who took it. "Alright, I guess that's a gift, use it wisely."

"Takeru might have made the best decision of his life when he bluffed Ole Schneider in One Drop. People have been heroing him like it's going out of style ever since."

"And Takeru goes from an approximately average chip stack to up past one hundred and sixty! He's gearing up to play the hunter on what is sure to be a bloody day three!"

OOO

~Hikari~

"Well that's too bad," Hikari said, looking over at the small golden coin that Daisy held up between her manicured fingers.

"I got a free card protector out of it," Daisy said, flicking it up into the air and catching it. "Guy who knocked me out felt really bad about it, it's...why do people think I take poker stuff personally?" She shrugged. "It's poker, I play my hand, they play their hand, whatever happens happens."

Hikari had a bit of jealousy, observing Daisy wearing a striking red dress and white open-toed pumps with such casual ease. It made her think of her own fancy outfit that she had yet to adjust herself to. She hoped that one day she could handle such clothing with the grace of Daisy.

"I think we both know why guys don't want to knock you out of tournaments," Hikari said wryly. "Anyway, what, the guy who bumped you out gave you his card protector? Seems a little silly."

"No no, he had a bunch of them, he sells them I guess," she answered, looking at it again. "He...he said something about how the coins were part of some ancient treasure discovered by...I don't know, I wasn't listening very well." She gave her hand a little shake up by her head in a dismissive gesture.

Hikari glanced over her shoulder to Takeru, who was tossing his cards over to the dealer. "That's too bad though. You play poker for three straight days, end up with nothing."

"That's how the main event goes," Daisy replied easily. "Besides, I've done things beyond even my wildest imagination in this world series, I'm good with it. Nearly three million dollars up, got the world talking about me now. And I'm not the only one walking away empty handed."

"You're not lying."

The two girls turned to look over their shoulders, finding Daryl, cutting through the thin crowd of observers encircling the table.

"You too?" Daisy asked.

"Got it in with queens," Daryl said. "Ran into aces, what can you do?"

"Yeah, guess who's still going strong?" Daisy rolled her eyes, pointing her thumb over her shoulder.

"Yeah, something told me the wunderkid might still have chips," Daryl said wryly. "Hey, brother." He reached over towards his right, past Daisy, grabbing Hido's forearm.

"Hey yourself," Hido replied, turning to give Daryl a quick nod. "Yeah, those damn queens, I should just start folding them as soon as I get them. Never win with them."

"Huh." Hikari chewed on her cheek for a second. "Speaking of queens, look what I decided to whip out for the main event."

She turned to Daisy, reaching down towards her shorts' pocket and pulling out a playing card. She displayed the front of it to her.

"Oh, what's that all about? Queen of hearts?" Daisy asked, looking down at the worn card.

Hikari could almost feel Hido's gaze turning towards the back of her head.

"Yeah, fun story behind that one," Hikari answered. "So—"

"I'm standing right here, you know," Hido grumbled.

"I'm aware," Hikari said, giving her head a small turn, not looking at Hido, before turning back to Daisy. "Anyway—"

Hikari was cut off by a suddenly snap and crackle that echoed through the large room. She jumped a bit, tilting her head up.

"Attention everyone, we are now officially down to four thousand players. Repeat, the main event is down to four thousand players."

Just as quickly, with another little buzz of cacaphonic noises, the announcement faded.

"Four thousand, man, people drop out fast," Daryl muttered. "You go to the bathroom and three people are out by the time you flush."

"Less than two thousand left to the money," Daisy added. "Might get there tomorrow." She turned back to Hikari. "You were saying?"

"Oh, right." Hikari held the card back up. "In any case—"

OOO

"Nobody wants to commit chips to the pot right now, that's what happens when you're only a handful of eliminations away from the bubble."

Britney Walters tossed her cards over to the dealer from the cutoff, leaving Takeru to look down at two black deuces in the hole.

"That leaves it to Takeru now, he's on the button, and he's got pocket deuces."

"Takeru is definitely one of the people left who wouldn't mind finishing outside the money. Obviously, playing poker for over three straight days and not cashing is a bummer, but having millions in winnings from prior tournaments has a way of acting as a wonderful cure for any such wounds. Decent spot to take advantage of other players playing tight."

Takeru pursed his lips for a second, then grabbed a small collection of chips from one of his black stacks.

"Blinds are three and six thousand, a few hours into day four, and Takeru looks like he's planning a raise. As always, when action folds around to the button and the button raises, there's no reason to EVER believe that he actually has a good hand."

Takeru put in one silver and gold chip, as well as five black ones.

"Standard raise to fifteen thousand from Takeru with his two ducks. You know, now that we're closing in on the money, I think we can start discussing the possibility of Takeru hitting the triple crown without being COMPLETELY ridiculous."

"Well, I'm not sure about that, it's still at least a little ridiculous. But sometimes, being ridiculous is all part of the fun when you're speculating."

Diana Keys, in the small blind, had a look down at the queen of spades and ten of diamonds.

"Miss Keys has an offsuit queen ten. It's twelve thousand more to call, she's got about three hundred and fifty thousand in chip, so it's a pretty borderline situation. Queen ten is right on that line."

Diana, using fingers tipped in a bright white color, took a couple of black chips along with a silver and gold one, flipping them forward.

"She will make the call. So, Adrian Peters in the big blind, he's got...queen nine offsuit. Queen of diamonds, nine of clubs."

"Well, Adrian's getting a great price to put in another nine thousand. Already forty-five thousand in there. It's a pretty weak hand, but getting five to one, I think he's priced in. And he's got just over four hundred thousand in his stack, so he can afford it."

Adrian reached in towards his big blind, taking back one of the black chips and replacing it with a silver and gold one.

"Three to the flop. Fifty four thousand in the middle. Takeru leads with a pair of twos."

The dealer set out three cards from the top of the deck after the burn, flipping the cards over and laying out the ten of clubs, four of hearts, and five of spades.

"Diana takes the lead, a ten high flop gives her top pair. Nothing for Adrian."

Keys tapped the felt a couple times, following by Adrian absentmindedly pointing his index finger over at Takeru.

"Diana checks top pair, Adrian checks his queen high. Now, this is a pretty dry flop, so Takeru COULD continuation bet here to try to take it down. It wouldn't work, but it'd make sense."

Takeru, however, used his right hand to tap the felt a few times.

"No continuation bet coming, and we're off to the turn."

The turn card proved to be the king of clubs.

"That king gives Adrian something to hope for, he's now got a gutshot straight draw. Would need a jack. But Diana is still an eighty-five percent favorite with the pair of tens."

Diana, arms crossed in front of her, tapped her right hand on her left forearm a few times. Adrian similarly tapped the felt a few times.

"Diana and Adrian check. That king could have easily hit Takeru, he was the preflop raiser. Takeru could definitely try to represent that he has a king and bet here. I don't THINK it'd get past Diana, but it's not impossible."

Takeru, after a couple moments, checked as well.

"Takeru seems to have gone into surrender mode, he checks again. Takeru needs a deuce, Adrian needs a jack, and Diana needs to dodge both."

The river card flipped up, the eight of clubs.

"The eight of clubs helps nobody. It puts a third club on the board, and seven six just got there, but it's a reasonably safe card for Diana's second pair."

Diana grabbed seven black chips, flipping them over into the middle.

"And...Diana Keys has made a TINY value bet here. That is seven thousand into a pot of fifty-four thousand."

"Very interesting move from Keys. It could be a blocker bet, it could be a merge bet designed to be callable by someone with an eight, five, or four, or it could be meant to induce a bluff. When a player bets this small, they usually a marginal hand."

Adrian looked over at the seven chips that had just gone in, then over at the board.

"Well, I know Diana Keys to be a very capable player, so I have to believe she's done this KNOWING that it makes her hand look weak and that she's made herself look very bluffable, and she plans to call any raise. It's actually a pretty sneaky way of getting good value out of second pair. Looks like Adrian is considering making a move."

Peters picked up three silver and gold chips, put it next to a stack of five black chips, and pushed all of them out into the pot.

"And he's done it! Adrian Peters has raised to thirty-five thousand with queen high."

"About the only thing Peters can represent credibly here is a flush, since seven six would probably bet on the flop or turn, so I think Diana's calling when it gets back around to her. There are just so many bluffs Adrian could have compared to the few value hands."

Takeru blinked rapidly a few times, reaching up to rub the back of his neck as he leaned in a bit over the table.

"Now...Takeru hasn't folded yet."

Takeru began to shuffle some of his silver and gold chips around.

"I could understand Takeru calling a bet, but he can't possibly call a bet AND a raise. So he must be considering a three-bet."

Takeru began gathering together a collection of silver and gold chips.

"By the way, if Takeru DOES just call, and Diana folds, I'm taking the next fifteen minutes off from commentary so I can go into another room and laugh my ass off."

Takeru shoved in a stack of eight silver and gold chips, next to four blacks.

"WOW! Takeru, with nothing but a pair of twos, has three-bet it up to eighty-four thousand! He's representing the nut flush!"

"And this hand started off so peacefully too."

Diana took a look back down at her hole cards.

"Well, assuming Diana's plan was to call Adrian's raise to capture a bluff, the plan probably has to change once Takeru re-raises. Especially when Adrian's still to act behind her, and could theoretically four-bet."

Diana took her two cards and tossed them over to the dealer.

"And Diana Keys lays down the best hand!"

"And Adrian can't call. He COULD four-bet, but it's really hard to believe that Takeru is bluffing at this point. I can see Takeru's cards, and I still have a hard time believing it. And do you really want to mess around to that extent so close to the bubble?"

With an annoyed grunt, Peters tossed his cards over to the muck. Takeru, with a small smile, turned over one of his cards, showing the deuce of clubs.

"And Takeru will show ONE of his cards, leaving open the possibility that he was holding ace deuce of clubs for the nut flush without confirming it!"

"And that's really one of the coolest plays you'll ever see a poker table. For Takeru to pull that bluff off, he has to read Diana, read what Adrian is reading in Diana, and THEN read Adrian. So much dynamic and levelling in that hand, and then having the stones to actually pull it off."

"Takeru's got six hundred thousand chips, he's now above the tournament average! The dream of the triple crown stays alive!"

OOO

"I would have been happy to just end up in the black for the world series," Takeru said, cupping his hands to have a look down at his hole cards. Eight of diamonds and five of clubs. He zipped them over to the muck. "Really, this whole thing has been crazy. I knew I could play, but of course I never thought something like this could happen."

"Well, you're certainly in the black," Ubaldo Jimenez said, having a look down at his queen of hearts and three of spades, similarly mucking. "Unless your after-bracelet parties get REALLY crazy."

"They do get pretty crazy," Takeru said, with a small smirk. "Not that crazy."

"Takeru sounds like a man who's had enough parties for a lifetime over these last two months. And you can hardly blame him, he's had a lot to celebrate."

A series of sound, yet still clearly audible, chimes rang through the air. Everyone in the room jumped, then tilted their heads up towards the ceiling.

"And there it is! That beautiful sound means the money bubble has just burst!"

The room, already buzzing with ambiance, erupted momentarily with relief and joy.

"Alright, I can make the house payment this month!" Ubaldo said dryly. "Good news!"

"And two thousand plus individuals can relax, knowing they have secured profit. The next handful of people out will receive twelve thousand six hundred dollars for their troubles!"

"Oi, what?" Ubaldo suddenly said, turning over to look at Takeru. "You too good to celebrating making the money in the main event?" He pointed at Takeru's face. "Look at you, you've heard that chime so many times, it's lost all meaning to you!"

"No, no, I'm excited," Takeru insisted. "Just trying to stay on an even keel."

"Takeru clearly has bigger plans in mind than just making the money, but it's definitely yet another feather in his cap as he extends his world series record."

"Given that this world series is in honor of Zachary Fischer's memory, it's very fitting that a young kid showed up and completely dominated for two months. What Takeru has done so far this year is pretty much what a lot of people think Fischer would have done on a routine basis if he had managed to get his personal life in order."

Takeru twisted himself around in his chair, looking behind him at the crowd up by the rail, waving. "Looks like it came through for me, huh?"

Hikari held a queen of hearts card up in the air triumphantly.

"We'll all just have to guess what the queen of hearts means for Takeru."

"Well, my first guess would be something romantically-inclined, but who knows."

"Hey, Daisy," Takeru called out. "Who else made it?"

"Ken's still in," she answered. "Yuma, Akira, Miyako too. Sammy's got a lot of chips still," Daisy answered, leaning over the rail a bit from her spot next to Hikari.

"People can say what they will about Takeru being lucky, about him being a card rack, or whatever else, but the kid is definitely playing at an elite level. One thing that has really stood out to me is all the different 'gears', so to speak, that he has as a poker player. He's been able to consistently change styles from situation to situation, from tournament to tournament, and that's a sign of a really good player."

"So far in this main event, he's actually been mostly passive, his aggression stats are all down a bit from where they were in previous tournaments. Most of his played hands have been from the button or the blinds, he's been very selective and careful with when he makes a big move, he's generally played a pretty safe and solid game. We've seen him play a lot more unpredictably and wild in prior tournaments, so he seems like he's capable of anything. I think his style of play thus far has been appropriate for a tournament like the main event."

"More than two thousand people are safely in the money, but they'll have to fight on for a bigger slice of the pie!"

OOO

~Takeru~

Takeru stared over at Justin Harrell, cautiously counting through his chipstack.

"This is tough," he muttered to himself, looking down at a flop of the queen of hearts, nine of clubs, and seven of spades. "Hm. How much to call again?"

"Thirty thousand," the dealer answered, reaching over and counting the three chips Justin had just put out."

"Guess I can't flop much better." Takeru took a moment to look back down at the queen of spades and jack of diamonds. He tossed out three silver and gold chips.

"If you can't flop much better, then why was it tough?" Justin asked, with a bit of a laugh as the dealer pulled the chips into the middle of the table.

"Last hand of day four, I...I don't wanna do anything crazy," Takeru said.

The dealer put out the two of hearts.

"Maybe I'll do something crazy," Justin said, scratching the back of his head for a second. "Fifteen hundred left in the main event, we're in the money, why not go crazy?" He tossed out five silver and gold chips along with five black chips.

"Fifty-five?" Takeru asked, rifling a small stack of black chips. "Why do I feel like you've got it this time?" He looked over his stacks again. "I can...fold now, still have seven hundred thousand chips...bit above average."

"I bet the flop and turn, so I...I want you to feel like I've got it this time," Justin pointed out. "So feeling like that would make sense."

"Probably should have raised preflop if I was gonna open," Takeru muttered. "From the cutoff and everything, I just...I didn't feel like stepping in it too deep on the last hand of the day." He looked back down at his offsuit queen jack. "Now I let you in the pot with...nine seven or something. Nine seven." He shrugged. "You were the big blind, you could have...anything, but...I feel like you got it." He turned around, looking over at Hikari. "What do you think? Should I let him have it?"

"I can't see your cards from over here, buddy," Hikari said wryly. "This one's on you."

"Yeah, go ahead." Takeru threw his cards towards the dealer. "Take it."

"If you folded a queen, I'm pretty irritated right now," Justin said. "But I'm gonna show, just because you nailed it."

Justin flipped up the nine of diamonds and seven of hearts.

"Wow, I did it!" Takeru said, standing up and throwing his arms up in the air. "It was queen jack, by the way."

"Oh, gotta be kidding," Justin said, rolling his eyes. "How did I not get paid? What kinda tells am I giving off? I'm such a fish."

"I paid you the thirty thousand on the flop," Takeru pointed out. "Alright, have a good night." Takeru slowly made his way over towards the railing.

"You're throwing away top pair now?" Daisy said teasingly. "You that much of a coward?"

"Sorry, I couldn't hear that, what with you being all the way down beneath me with the rest of the day three eliminations," Takeru countered. He reached his right hand out, letting Daisy reach out and take it. He then pulled into a quick hug with her.

"Uh-huh," Daisy drawled. "Nice laydown."

"So what's the good word?" Takeru asked.

"Nothing's changed," Daisy answered. "Nobody got bounced today."

"Tomorrow's gonna be big," Takeru said. "Day five, tends to really narrow down on day five. Just hope we're all there." He clapped his hands together a few times. "I feel good about that last one. Disciplined laydown, that's what it takes to survive."

"Not really," Hikari said. "What does he have that you're beating besides eight six?"

"Oh, look who's getting a little chatty all of a sudden," Takeru said, turning to her. "With that kind of talk, maybe I should have bought you a seat, see how you feel after you're the one in the hot chair."

"I'm just saying," Hikari said. "It was an okay laydown. If you had, like, ace queen, now you're talking."

Takeru pointed at Hikari, looking over at Daisy. "Okay, you told her to say that, right?"

Daisy shook her head. "No, she's acting alone on this one."

"I've been standing here for the last two months for sixteen hours a day practically, watching you play poker," Hikari said. "I'm gonna pick up on stuff eventually."

"That's good. I like that," Takeru said, stepping over the railing. "Maybe next year, eh?"

"Well, you need me here when you're playing, right?" Hikari pointed out. "No guarantee we draw the same table."

"Good point." Takeru gave her a couple claps on the shoulder. "Back at The Mecca we have a daily hundred dollar tournament every morning, maybe you can start there."

OOO

~Hikari~

"So who am I playing?" Hikari asked, eyes glued to the surface of the table, down at the hologram being projected in front of her.

"Well, you're not...playing a person, it's the computer." Takeru pointed down at the various projected graphics. In front of Hikari's seat were two face-up cards, queen of hearts and ten of hearts. Three cards were projected in the middle of the table. King of hearts, queen of diamonds, four of hearts. And on the opposite side of the table, there was a pair of face down cards.

Underneath the three cards in the middle was Takeru's small black personal assistant, projecting all of the graphics.

"So your assistant thingy is making decisions?" Hikari pointed over at the device. "So does it just do the same thing every time?"

"Well, it's got a bit of...intelligence behind it," Takeru said. "It can mix it up, it can vary it's play...can't quite do what a human can, but it's not a bad little application."

"That's really cool." Hikari reached her hand forward, tapping the table surface. Her movement was picked up, and after a beat, a small stack of chips appeared in front of the two face down cards across the table. Underneath the small stack appeared a series of numbers, showing the sum '400'.

"And then you do things verbally," Takeru said, pointing down at the table. "It's nice little training tool. More than anything it's a nice way to get acclimated to the rules and how the game works, and some basics."

"Uh, raise, six hundred more," Hikari said, nearly jumping out of her seat when a stack of chips was suddenly projected out in front of her cards. "Look at that!"

"See, check-raising already, you know what's up." He patted her on the back. "Natural."

The 'player' on the opposite side of the table pushed out a few more chips, signifying a call, and a fourth card came up on the board. Queen of clubs.

"Okay, so, now that I've check-raised the flop...I'm pretty much supposed to bet here, right?" Hikari turned around to look at Takeru.

Takeru shrugged. "You're the boss, this one's on you."

Hikari turned back to the table. "Bet eight hundred."

Immediately, an array of chips popped up in front of her cards. The two face down cards on the other side of the table suddenly disappeared, and a handful of chip stacks were virtually deposited in front of Hikari.

"Alright, I won one," Hikari said. "This game's easy."

Takeru gave a small laugh. "I think it...goes up to like five total opponents, if you want to."

"I'll consider it," Hikari replied. "You okay if I stay up for a bit and check this out?"

"Whatever you want," Takeru answered, beginning to unbutton his shirt. "If I'm gonna be staking you in the tournaments back at The Mecca, I want to know that I'm putting my money behind someone who knows what she's doing."

OOO

"Day five, hour three, we're up to level twenty-two. Antes are three thousand, blinds are ten and twenty thousand, so things are starting to get pretty hot down there on the felt."

Felix Glass had a look down at the king of diamonds and jack of diamonds.

"Thirteen hundred players left, average stack size is about seven hundred and seventy thousand. Here's Felix Glass, he's one of the healthier stacks left in this tournament, he's got one point two million. That's a lot of plastic."

Felix gathered up four silver and gold chips next to four black ones, tossing the chips out into the pot.

"He's got a suited king jack from under the gun, and he's raising to forty-four thousand. The under the gun raise SHOULD get a lot of respect, but given Felix is the chip leader at this table he could be raising light to apply pressure."

Takeru gathered up his two cards, having a look down at the ace of clubs and king of hearts.

"Heeya! Takeru's got big slick, offsuit, from under the gun plus one. Welcome to domination nation."

"Three bet?"

Takeru, looking at Felix out of the corner of his eyes, gathered up four silver and gold chips along with four blacks. He pushed the array of chips forward into the pot.

"No three bet, Takeru just calls. Kind of surprising."

"Yeah, but I actually think it makes a lot of sense. Even though Takeru's out of position, he has position on Felix, so playing the pot post-flop is appealing. If someone were to three bet as a squeeze, like Jerry Johnson in the big blind is capable of squeezing, Takeru could then four bet to capture extra value. And also, in the event that Takeru three bets and then Felix four bets, then Felix basically always has queens, kings, aces, or ace king, and it's an argument for Takeru folding. And Takeru doesn't want to fold a hand as strong as ace king. Now, he gets to play a little deceptively after seemingly capping his range."

Meanwhile, action went around the table, everyone folding.

"Also, Takeru has about nine hundred thousand, so both players have big chip stacks. No reason to go to war. Felix is someone who could possibly bust Takeru, so it makes sense to be delicate around him."

After Jerry Johnson folded, the dealer pulled in the chips.

"One hundred and five thousand in the middle. Takeru is the effective stack, he officially has eight hundred fifty-two thousand behind. Here's the flop."

The dealer put out the jack of clubs, three of clubs, and king of clubs.

"And WHAT a flop! Felix Glass makes top two pair, kings and jacks, and Takeru Ishida has top pair, top kicker, AND the nut flush draw!"

"Batten down the hatches, we're going to see some serious cannons go off. Both players would probably be happy to play for all the chips at this point."

Slowly, Felix got got together five silver and gold chips, tossing them out.

"And that is a bet of fifty thousand. A touch less than half the pot. He's got a lot to protect against, another club hitting the turn would pretty much be murder. And what will Ishida do?"

Takeru took out a full stack of silver and gold chips, cut it in half, and then cut one of the halves in half. The collection of five chips went forward past his cards.

"He just calls. Top-top and the nut flush draw, I'm sure a lot of our viewers would probably have raised there, but Takeru's playing it cautiously."

"Well, Takeru has a very strong hand, but there aren't many hands that would call his raise that he's ahead of. Even though Takeru has reasonable equity against ANY hand that Felix has, he's an underdog against pretty much all hands that can call a raise or even re-raise. Remember, Takeru has the ace of clubs in HIS hand, so he knows that Felix can't have the ace of clubs in HIS hand, so Felix probably isn't doing this with a flush draw."

"Two hundred and five thousand in the pot. Felix is a fifty-five percent favorite."

The turn card, the six of hearts, hit the felt.

"The six of hearts is a blank, Felix Glass is now a seventy-two percent favorite, and the action is on him."

"Seems like a perfect opportunity for a bet and a call. Both players still have to like their hand a lot, and Takeru has to like how much he's under-represented his hand."

Felix took out a stack of silver and gold discs. He cut it in half, then moved four from the left stack to the right stack. This right stack went past his two face down cards.

"And that is a very big bet, two thirds the pot from Felix, one hundred and forty thousand. Wants to get rid of any flush draws."

"But I don't think he can get rid of a flush draw AND top pair. I still like a call from Takeru. Raising would be crazy at this point after a bet that big, but you can't fold a hand this good."

Takeru got together the required fourteen silver and gold chips.

"Takeru is getting together a call. He'll have six hundred and sixty-two behind after making this call. He needs an ace or a club to take the lead. Four hundred and eighty-five thousand in the pot."

The river card brought the three of diamonds.

"Ooof, talk about a brick on the river. Takeru's stuck with top pair top kicker. Might be just good enough for him to pay off a river bet."

Glass, a glance at Takeru to his left, put out a full stack of silver and gold, and then another twelve similarly-colored chips next to it, then shoving the entire collection of clay forward.

"And Felix wants FULL value from top two pair, he bets three hundred and twenty THOUSAND, nearly half of Takeru's remaining stack, and time for a VERY tough decision."

Takeru shuffled a stack of black chips around in his right hand, using his left hand to wipe at his forehead.

"It MIGHT be tempting for Takeru to shove all-in here since he's got the ace of clubs in his hand and knows Felix can't have the nut flush, but if Felix flopped a set he's now filled up to a full house, so if he had that it would be a toothless bluff."

Takeru muttered to himself for a second.

"There just aren't really any hands that Felix would be doing this for value that Takeru can beat with a pair of kings, so his hand is really just a bluff catcher. And if Felix was bluffing you'd figure HE'D have the ace of clubs in his hand."

Takeru pushed out a long, ragged breath.

"This is a hard fold to make, it takes discipline to lay this down, but I think the only way Takeru makes this call is if he thinks that Felix is putting him on the naked ace of clubs. But it's easy for us in the booth when we can see the cards, Takeru has to game this out in real time on the spot."

Takeru nodded slowly. "Okay, this is gonna be a legit one."

"The only hand I can think of Felix having where he'd do this for value that Takeru can beat is two queens with the queen of clubs or king queen with the queen of clubs, and that's really it."

Takeru whisked his cards over towards the dealer.

"And Takeru managed to preserve a HUGE portion of his stack with that fold! Wow!"

"Now that was a big one," Takeru said, turning around to look over his shoulder towards the rail, pointing over at Hikari. "That one's gonna look good on television."

"Takeru seems pretty confident that he was beat there, which he was. Great laydown. He now has a slightly below average stack, but a less disciplined played could easily have been chopped down to twelve big blinds there."

"That's the discipline and the patience," Takeru said, turning back towards the table. "That's the discipline and the patience that it takes."

"There were a LOT of chances for Takeru to go broke on that hand, but he comes out with only a superficial wound! That's what they call dodging bullets!" 


	28. Reverse Domination

Chapter 28: Reverse Domination

"We just got word that we're officially down to eleven hundred players, so payouts for the next handful of eliminations are up to twenty-five thousand. Average stack size is about nine hundred and ten thousand."

"The carnage increases with each passing minute, so many players getting bounced. Harry Klay folds from under the gun."

Justin Elliott pried up his left card, seeing a three of spades, then looked at the right one and found the three of clubs.

"And Justin Elliott has pocket threes from under the gun plus one."

"Justin is a bit of a short stack, he's got five hundred and thirty thousand behind, about twenty-two big blinds. Needs to make a move quickly."

Elliott put out two silver and gold chips and four black chips.

"And Justin limps in, bit of a non-standard play. Usually you'd see a player make a standard raise there and try to take down the pot."

"Well, Elliott feels that he can still play reasonable poker with his stack, so he'll keep his costs down and try to either flop a set or just fold for a minimal loss of chips."

Alexander Humas, next to speak, looked down at the queen of hearts and the queen of clubs.

"And perhaps he's lucky he didn't raise! Alexander Humas has pocket queens from under the gun plus two, there's a welcome sight for the young poker professional!"

"Sixty-five thousand," Alexander said from behind his polarized sunglasses, pushing out a handful of chips.

"Humas pushes out a raise, sixty-five thousand from a stack of about one point one million."

Takeru, wiping his hand over his mouth, set his cards down in front of him. Six of spades, six of clubs.

"And we have yet another pair in the hole, Takeru Ishida's got two sixes."

"Not a great situation for Takeru, he's got to be aware that Justin Elliott is capable of shoving when it gets back around to him. But I think he'll call and see a flop as long as he doesn't face a three-bet from Justin."

Takeru moved out a small stack of chips past his stack.

"Takeru's a bit of a short stack right now too. He's sitting on six hundred and fifty thousand chips after making that call."

"He's been in survival mode during this day five, playing only a few pots and just trying to maintain a viable stack. But with the way this tournament typically goes, it's about time for these players to either become the hunter, or the hunted."

Justin propped his head in his palm, looking over to his left at the chips that had gone out from the two players to his left. The rest of the table folded around, action back on Justin.

"Everyone else has folded, and what does Justin have in mind with two threes?"

"Well, if he shoves, which is actually a reasonable move given stack sizes, he's in for a bad time courtesy of Alexander."

Justin took back his initial limp and put out a handful of new chips.

"Elliott makes the call."

"Well, Justin is getting a good price to make that call, and if he makes a set there's the opportunity to chip up in a big way. Three pocket pairs will see a flop. Feels like potential trouble for someone."

The dealer put out the two of diamonds, three of diamonds, and six of hearts.

"Feels like potential trouble for TWO someones! Two three six, Justin Elliott has indeed flopped a set of threes, BUT Takeru Ishida has flopped a set of sixes! Meanwhile, Alexander Humas is sitting there with a big overpair, he has to love that flop."

"All three players love that flop. Which is very bad news for Justin and Alexander, since they're both crushed."

Justin checked, tapping the table.

"Justin is in the mood to lay a trap. Unfortunately for him, while he's trying to trap Alexander, he'll likely end up getting trapped by Takeru. This is the hand that Takeru was hoping to run into when he was tightening up during the earlier portions of day five."

Alexander got together a collection of silver and gold chips, getting seven of them, putting them forward towards the pot.

"Seventy thousand chips from Alexander Humas. Three hundred and thirty seven thousand now in the middle. Action to Takeru."

Takeru shuffled a few chips around in his right hand, staring at the small tower Humas had put out, before putting out seven chips of his own.

"And Takeru will slowplay top set, he just calls. Just in case Humas has a hand like ace king, he doesn't want to blow him off it."

Justin counted through his chip stacks, going through the various denominations.

"And there's just nothing Justin Elliott can do here. There isn't a player in the world who can get away from this hand in this situation. He's just destined to go broke. He might even push all-in here, he's got a bit more than a pot-sized amount behind."

"All-in," Justin said suddenly.

"And there it is! Justin Elliott will stake his main event on a set of threes, little does he know that he's completely crushed and has one out!"

"How much?" Alexander asked, looking over at Justin's chip pile going forward into the pot.

"And I don't know if Alexander can fold his queens here either. I mean, he's got a big overpair, given preflop action it's hard to believe he's up against aces or kings...you'd think this is exactly what he wanted."

Alexander looked back down at his cards.

"But he's not so sure. Looks like Alexander Hamas is sniffing out trouble, and at least has it in mind that his queens might be beat."

"Three hundred and ninety-five thousand more," the dealer reported after counting Justin's stack.

"It's a very large bet given circumstances. Hamas MUST be thinking that Justin has either flopped a set or a straight and is trying to get any flush draws to fold."

"It's either that, or Alexander has flopped a flush draw of his own and has decided to commit himself to it. Hamas has to figure out which one is the truth."

Finally, Hamas pushed his cards back over to the dealer.

"Call," Takeru said immediately, turning over both of his sixes.

"Oh my, freaking," Justin said immediately, seeing that he had gotten the short end of the cooler. He rolled his eyes. "You gotta be kidding me." He turned over his threes.

"Wow," Takeru said, looking over and realizing his good fortune.

"Somehow, Alexander had the discipline to lay down the queens, and Takeru snap-calls with top set!"

"That's...ugh," Justin moaned, leaning back heavily in his chair.

"You kind of have to feel for Justin Elliott. He flopped a monster, he played it correctly, and he just ran into the ONE hand that he was completely crushed by. And meanwhile, very disciplined laydown from Alexander Hamas."

"I had the worst hand," Hamas said, standing up and looking back and forth at the two revealed hands. "Wow, I thought I might have the second-best hand at worst."

"What'd you have?" Takeru asked, watching the dealer put out the seven of clubs.

"Queens," he answered. "I folded queens."

"Great fold," Takeru said, nodding. "That's a great fold, wow. Did you think you were beat, or did you just not want to get into a coin toss?"

"I figured, between you and him, someone probably had me," he replied. Justin, meanwhile, got to his feet and grabbed his backpack.

"I mean, cooler me in the thousand dollar Holdem or the fifteen hundred Holdem, don't cooler me on day five of the main event," Justin groaned. "Set over set in the main event, gimme a..." he went over to Takeru and quickly shook his hand.

"Set over set is basically the ultimate cooler in poker. There's practically no way to get away from it, there's no way to realize that you're beat, and when you run into it, you're down to one out if you're lucky."

The dealer put out a five of clubs.

"That will do it for Justin Elliott, he's out, and Takeru suddenly has WELL over the tournament average. Over one point three million. That's just the hand he needed to catch in order to be a force going into day six tomorrow, everyone watch out!"

OOO

"Do you play cash games at your dad's casino?" Erica asked, looking down at the seven of clubs and three of hearts before folding it.

"Sometimes, sure," Takeru replied, propping his elbow up on the edge of the table and looking over at Erica. "Good way to work on the bankroll."

"I might have to pop by The Mecca in the future and try to get a table with you," she continued. "I wanna see what you got in the cash games."

"It's a beautiful place," Takeru said, taking a sip from a bottle of water. "Of course, I don't really know what's gonna happen after this is over."

"Oh, yeah, you're...you're gonna have a lot of people tugging on your arm." Erica nodded with a grin. "Gonna be a lot of fun, travelling the world."

"I look forward to it," Takeru agreed, standing up. "But yeah, sometimes you can find me in the poker room at The Mecca."

"Takeru Ishida, of course, is the youngest son of the man who owns and runs The Mecca. He probably learned a lot of his poker playing skills within the walls of the famous casino."

Takeru stretched his arms up above his head, looking up at the wall behind him. "Wow, time flies."

"I wish it did." Mark turned his head to look up at the wall. "Feel like I've been sitting here for the last three days, don't know what you're talking about."

"One hundred thousand." George pushed forward a half stack of silver and gold from the button.

"That is George Allan from the button, raising with ace three offsuit, just trying to pick up the blinds and antes. And given we're moments away from the end of day five, I imagine people will just let him have this one."

"Well, I know you don't have anything," John York from the small blind said, looking down at his cards. "But, neither do I, so...it's what it is." He folded the seven of spades and two of clubs over to the dealer.

"John York folds the worst hand in Holdem, Sarah Gold folds the big blind, and George picks it up with the ace rag. And that brings us to the last hand of day five. Five hundred and ninety-eight players remain alive, average stack size is about one point sixty seven. Ante is five thousand, blinds are twenty and forty."

"All poker players hate losing chips in any hand. But losing chips in the last hand of the day hurts even more."

Takeru had a look down at the nine and eight, both spades.

"Takeru's under the gun, he's got suited connectors...interesting spot."

"Ninety," Takeru said, pushing out nine silver and gold chips.

"He raises to ninety thousand. He has a hand that has the ability to flop extremely well, but I'm pretty sure he'd be more than happy not seeing a flop."

Quickly, players looked down at their cards, before mucking them over to the dealer.

Suddenly, the dealer looked up. "Last hand of the night. Last hand of the night."

"And it is now official, this is going to be the last hand for this particular table. It has just struck midnight."

George Allan, when action got around to him in the cutoff, looked down at two red tens.

"George Allan has woken up with a hand, a pair of tens. What does he want to do?"

Allan shuffled around a handful of chips for a moment before putting out nine silver and gold ones.

"He makes the call. He's in good shape to the flop, but Takeru does have the kind of hand that can crack a bigger pair from time to time. Allan has the effective stack, he's got one point two million. Takeru's got one point five. And...looks like the blinds are both folding, so we have two to the flop."

The dealer put out a flop. Jack of hearts, ten of spades, ace of clubs.

"And we've got fireworks on the final hand of the day! Jack ten ace rainbow, George Allan has flopped bottom set, and Takeru Ishida has flopped an open-ended straight draw!"

Takeru reached behind his chip stacks, pulling out a single platinum chip. He added a silver and gold chip, throwing the two chips forward.

"Takeru HAS to continuation bet, he's picked up some real equity but also would like the hand to be over with just nine high. And now over to George with bottom set, a bet of one hundred and ten thousand in front of him."

George pursed his lips, looking over at Takeru carefully.

"So, what does George Allan have in mind here?"

"There are a lot of straight draws out there. Not only the hand that Takeru has, but there are quite a few gutshots as well. So I'd put in a raise here for sure. If a king or queen comes on the turn, it really kills his action, or even worse, gives Takeru the best hand."

George got put a full stack of silver and gold chips, then cut out another half stack of the multi-colored chips. In all, thirty chips went forward.

"And that is a raise to three hundred thousand! Back to Takeru."

Takeru blinked down hard a couple times, looking back down at the board.

"And this is just the kind of scenario you hate to get involved in on the last hand of a day. Takeru has to put in another one hundred and ninety thousand chips, holding nine high, and hope that the turn card is one of the eight cards that makes his hand. If it's not, he'll certainly have to put more chips in to see the river card. Just not a scenario a poker player wants to be in."

Takeru, moving quite slowly, put out a platinum chip and nine silver and gold chips.

"Takeru makes the call, he takes yet another step into a precarious situation. I suppose he's getting a good price, but he has to be aware that he could be up against king queen, which would leave him drawing virtually dead. Personally, I think he would have been best served to cut his losses."

The dealer put out the five of spades on the turn.

"And that turn card only ups the intrigue, Takeru has now picked up a flush draw to go with his straight draw! A river spade would make him a nine high flush."

"Well, that's certainly a good card for Takeru, but he's still a significant underdog with one card to come. So it could end up being a card that gets him in more trouble as well."

Takeru tapped the table a few times.

"Takeru checks. Hoping for a free chance to hit his hand on the river. But I seriously doubt Allan is going to give it. He now has even MORE to protect against."

"Five hundred thousand," George said, putting out three platinum chips along with a stack of silver and gold.

"And there's the bet! Half a million chips, more than half of what Allan had left. He's committed himself to this hand with his set of tens."

Takeru reached up to rub the area right underneath his neck.

"And this is a really tough spot for Takeru. It's so hard to fold a big combo draw. If this was a cash game, I think he'd call, and it'd be a reasonable call. But here, in this spot, I think he's got to let it go."

Takeru shuffled some chips around in his hand.

"He's got nine high right now, so he KNOWS he's behind...needs a queen or a seven to make his straight, needs any spade to make his flush. He can make his straight and still lose, he can make his flush and still lose, he KNOWS that if he pairs his nine or eight on the river it won't do him any good...it's not fun to throw this away, but I think he's gotta do it."

Takeru took his two cards, took one last look down at them, then threw them over towards the dealer. "Take it down."

"And Takeru does let it go! That's a significant blow to his chip stack, he's down to about one point two million, but it could have been MUCH worse!"

"Live to fight for another day," Takeru said, standing up again. "Plenty of chances tomorrow."

"And Takeru says the mantra of the main event to himself as he watches that pot go over to George Allan. Takeru takes a hit, but he's still got chips!"

OOO

"How much to me?" Takeru asked, taking his two cards and sliding them up in front of him.

"One hundred and twenty thousand to call," the dealer answered.

"Takeru is officially in the danger zone. Hour two of day six, he's got one million in chips remaining, and blinds are at twenty-five thousand and fifty-thousand. That's twenty big blinds, for those counting at home."

"Takeru will likely wait for a premium hand, and then just shove with it and hope for the best."

He pried up the queen of hearts and jack of hearts.

"Suited queen jack, facing a raise from the hijack. Very interesting spot. So many different things to consider."

Takeru looked over at the player two seats to his right. Devin Harris, a couple of chips out in front of his cards.

"Well, I don't think his hand is good enough to shove with, it's just not an effective move either way. But it might be just good enough to call and see the flop with. He is in position, he's got the button. But he's certainly in bad shape against the aces of Devin Harris."

Takeru put out twelve silver and gold chips in two stacks of six in front of him.

"And he will call for one hundred and twenty thousand. More than ten percent of his remaining chips."

"Takeru has done well to stick around, but hasn't been able to really separate himself from the chaff and enter the realm of chip leaders. Now he's trying to get back to a playable stack."

"Small blind folds, and...Davidi Shakerchi has pocket threes in the big blind."

"Nice price to try to flop a set."

"I call," Davidi said, putting out seven more silver and gold chips.

"Three players to the flop. Harris way out in front with pocket aces, Takeru's the effective stack with eight hundred and eighty thousand behind."

The dealer, with a couple taps to the felt, put out the king of diamonds, ten of hearts, and nine of diamonds.

"That is a sight for sore eyes for Takeru Ishida, he has flopped the nut straight!"

Davidi tapped the felt a few times, checking over to Devin.

"Devin to act, and that is NOT a good flop for pocket aces. Not only is queen jack a straight, but Takeru definitely has pocket nines and pocket tens in his range."

Slowly, Harris began to put together some of his chips.

"But I have to imagine that Devin's still going to fire out a continuation bet."

"I check," Devin said quietly.

"Or maybe not. Devin Harris, apparently detecting danger, checks the action over to Takeru Ishida."

Takeru reached down to tap the felt a few times as well.

"Checks around."

"Takeru's taking a bit of a risk here. A diamond on the turn could kill his action, or even give one of his opponents a flush. Of course, if the diamond DOESN'T come, it should provoke a bet from Harris. He can't check aces twice."

The dealer put down the five of clubs.

"A brick hits the turn, the five of clubs does nothing for anyone. Takeru now guaranteed to win this hand at showdown."

Davidi took a platinum chip along with five silver and gold chips, pushing them out into the pot.

"Davidi Shakerchi's got a bicycle at a jet race, he's taking a shot with his pocket threes, hoping that the action on the flop means that nobody had anything. His hopes are for naught, however, this is what it looks like when a poker player punts one hundred and fifty thousand chips."

Slowly, Harris got out four platinum chips, pushing them past his cards, out towards the pot.

"And it's Devin's turn to step into it! He raises to four hundred thousand! Takeru's fighting the urge to jump out of his seat and do cartwheels, I'm sure, he didn't even have to bet to get this kind of action."

Takeru looked back down at his cards slowly.

"Yeah, Takuru, queen jack, you still have the nuts. Somehow, I don't think you've already forgotten."

"All-in," Takeru said, taking a stack of his chips and putting them forward on the table.

"There it is! Takeru Ishida is all-in with a three-bet to eight hundred and eighty thousand! This is the opportunity he was just hoping he'd get before he got wiped out!"

"Never doing that again," Davidi muttered, throwing his cards over to the muck.

"Now...will Devin Harris pay him off?"

Harris rubbed at his eyes for several seconds, then turned to look at Takeru. "Four eighty more to me?"

"Four eighty more," the dealer said.

"Huh." Devin looked back down at his two aces, the ace of spades and ace of hearts. "Flopped a set...flopped a straight...and you check from the button?"

"Harris is trying to put the pieces together. He's getting a great price, but no price is good enough to make a call when you're drawing dead."

"Would you really check those hands?" Devin puffed out a large breath. "I think you've got diamonds," he continued. "Check the flop with the nut flush draw...ace something of diamonds. Now you're committed, you decide to just go for it."

"Takeru's check on the flop is paying dividends. He's got Devin confused."

"Alright. I call." He grabbed a couple stacks of silver and gold and pushed them forward towards the pot.

"Straight," Takeru said, turning over his hand.

"Devin makes the call and sees that he's drawing stone dead!"

Devin could only give an exasperated grimace. "I can't win, you got it."

"And THIS is how fast things can change in No Limit Holdem! Takeru Ishida just went from on the brink of short stack poker to an above-average stack! He's up to two point three four million!"

"Just didn't think you'd...check a straight on that board," Devin muttered, counting out the chips that would be going over to Takeru.

OOO

Tajh Boyd placed his two cards face down in front of him.

"Battle of the blinds here, late in day six. Tajh Boyd might raise here, he's got king queen offsuit."

"Two fairly short stacks, Boyd has six million in chips, and the big blind to his left, Takeru Ishida, has about four point nine."

Tajh put out three platinum chips past his cards.

"And here comes the raise, that is a raise to three hundred thousand. Will it buy the blinds and antes?"

Takeru, seeing the raise in front of him, looked down at his two cards. Three of diamonds, three of spades.

"Pocket threes for Ishida. He'll have position on Boyd for this hand, he's already got the big blind out there...probably worth calling and trying to flop a set."

Takeru began to count his stacks of chips, fingers dancing along the tops of his holdings.

"Been a pretty steady tournament for Takeru. He's managed to maintain a viable stack throughout pretty much the entire event, but hasn't been able to really gain traction and become one of the chip leaders. Pretty commendable, really, it's hard to maintain that kind of stability in a long tournament like this."

Takeru took back his big blind, then put out three platinum chips.

"And he will see the flop. He leads with pocket threes, but it's a virtual coin flip. Takeru is also the effective stack with four point six million behind. Seven hundred and thirty-five thousand in the middle."

The dealer dealt out the nine of hearts, five of diamonds, and two of spades.

"Nine five two rainbow flop, nothing there for Boyd, Takeru's pocket threes remain in the lead. Boyd has the action, and he has the betting lead."

Tajh checked, tapping the table a few times.

"That's a check from Boyd, and a bet from Takeru should end this hand. It's actually a pretty good flop for a hand like pocket threes, very unlikely that Tajh has much."

Takeru got together five platinum chips and flipped them forward into the pot.

"Half a million from Takeru. Pretty big bet, he wants this hand to be over with. I imagine it will be."

Boyd, however, made no immediate move to his cards, instead keeping his focus intently on Takeru.

"Well, perhaps Boyd is painting a different picture here. Tough for me to believe he's considering calling and hoping to hit a pair on the turn, so he must be plotting a heist with a check-raise. And if he finds the courage to do it, I can't imagine Takeru hanging around with his baby pair."

"All-in," Tajh said, waving his hand forward.

"WHOA! Tajh Boyd has gone all-in, which would put Takeru all-in, that is a MASSIVE bet! More than TRIPLE the pot!"

"I-C-M SU-I-CIDE! I commend Tajh for having stones so big they have their own gravitational pull, but this is risking a massive amount of tournament equity with nothing, when a standard bet would probably accomplish the same thing!"

"VERY unconventional to make such a giant bet, probably a little ill-advised by Tajh, but it seems like he's read Takeru's hand well and is trying to blow him off it. And as much courage as it takes to jam all-in with king high and no draw, it'll take even MORE for Takeru to call off his tournament with just a pair of threes."

Takeru looked over at Boyd, staring at him closely.

"And...Takeru doesn't want to let it go. Can't imagine him actually calling this, the way this hand went Boyd could easily have an overpair. I think this is a super easy fold."

"Why so much?" Takeru muttered, looking back down at his chips.

"And even if Boyd has two overcards, like he does, Takeru isn't THAT big a favorite with two threes, so even calling and being right isn't that great a reward. Credit to Takeru for apparently smelling a bluff, but I think he's just got to let this go. It's his tournament life on a hand a half-hour before the end of day six!"

"What kind of bet is that?" He squinted down hard.

"Admittedly a bet that big on the flop is sort of suspicious, and Takeru seems to have picked up on that. Calling and being right is the stuff legends are made out of, but calling and being wrong is so ugly and obvious that you pretty much die of shame."

"Okay, I call," Takeru said. "Low cards, dealer."

"TAKERU CALLS!"

With a grimace of disgust, Tajh Boyd turned over his king of diamonds and queen of clubs. "Good call, I...king high."

Takeru flipped up his threes, drawing a recoil and a further look of disgust from Boyd.

"Wow, what an unnecessarily huge pot. Both players are wondering how this happened. Boyd can't believe that he got called by that hand."

"I was thinking I could get you off...ace nine or something, I didn't think..." Tajh trailed off, head resting in his hands as he watched the dealer. "Wow."

The dealer burned a card and dealt out the four of hearts.

"Four of hearts on the turn, Takeru now has a straight draw, but it's irrelevant to the hand. Boyd needs to river a king or a queen, or else he's crippled down to less than ten big blinds, and Takeru will somehow emerge out of this hand with a well above-average stack!"

"Twenty-two million dollar grand prize, calls it off with two threes...crazy," Boyd continued to mutter.

"Tajh is still a bit sour about getting called. Frankly, I think his bluff would have worked better if he had just raised to a normal amount."

The dealer put down the ace of diamonds.

"Takeru makes his straight, his hero call is rewarded! Suddenly, he's got over nine point four million in chips! What a tournament for the kid!"

Takeru raked in a large collection of chips, beginning to stack the messy pile.

"Great call," Boyd said, still shaking his head in disbelief. "Great call."

OOO

"I was just, what would he do that with, on that board?" Takeru said, looking over a few seats to his left. "It was either an overpair or nothing, and...even an overpair, why would you make it THAT much?"

"It's a great call, man," Daniel Karns replied, folding his cards over the dealer. "You've got great instincts."

"And I was getting short on chips, and I thought...if I win the hand, I'd really have some chips to work with in day seven, and I didn't really want to be a short stack to start day seven." Takeru nodded to himself. "Or maybe I just ate some bad steak for dinner last night and it made me go crazy, I don't know."

"The poker world is STILL buzzing about that call Takeru made last night with a pair of threes. Having the combination of brains, instincts, and courage to do what Takeru did in that hand, it's not something you'll find in most players."

"I mean, it helps when you've won four bracelets and over thirty million dollars in the world series already," Karns added. "Would make me feel brave too."

"I wish it was thirty million," Takeru replied with a grin.

"Oh yeah, you had the...the backers for One Drop," Daniel said.

Scott Ramis put out five platinum chips.

"Scott Ramis raises from the cutoff with ace jack offsuit. Hour three of day seven of the main event, eighty-four players remain. Ante is thirty thousand, blinds are one hundred and two hundred thousand. Average chipstack is just shy of twelve million."

"Next handful of eliminations cash to the tune of one hundred and twenty-six thousand. The money is starting to get pretty serious."

Angela Ramirez, with action on her in the big blinds, put out three platinum chips to make the call.

"So we have Ramis and Ramirez to the flop, Angela likes her pocket fives enough to have a look."

"Can't lie, I was really hoping I didn't draw a table with you," Karns continued, leaning back to look at Takeru. "When I saw that I drew this table this morning, I was just...ick, didn't feel good about it."

"I wouldn't be too worried about me today," Takeru said, pointing down at his chipstack. "I'm not the one who can bust people right now."

The dealer put out a flop of the ace of hearts, nine of clubs, and three of diamonds.

"Scott Ramis flops top pair, he takes the lead away from Angela, she's still just got two fives."

Ramis cut out a stack of platinum, removing the top half from the bottom half, and firing the top half out into the pot.

"You would call with this hand," Angela said, pointing over at Takeru, drawing his attention. "I don't have it in me, but...you would. This is your kind of spot." Angela folded her cards over to the muck with a wry smile. "Not me though."

"Scott takes it down with the bet, and Angela also decides to make reference to Takeru's call last night."

"Don't start thinking I hero call every time," Takeru said, shaking his head. "Believe me, I don't, I wouldn't be sitting here right now if I made hero calls every time they came up."

"Takeru's got a great point. He made some very impressive laydowns earlier in this tournament, detecting when he was beat even when he had a hand good enough to make a call."

The dealer scrambled the fifty-two cards around in front of her for a moment.

A low whistle suddenly came from the spectators, behind Takeru, causing him to quickly spin around and look behind him.

"Hey, buddy, it's all you now," Ken said, his head having suddenly pushed through the crowd and appearing right by the railing.

"Oh really?" Takeru shot him a look of incredulity. "You're gonna bust and put the weight of the world on my shoulders? That's what you're doing now?" He turned back towards the table. "Really appreciated!" he said sarcastically.

"Ken Ichijouji just busted at another table just a moment ago. He's arrived to support his good friend."

"I'll probably join you soon," Takeru added as the dealer dealt out a new hand. "Can't get out of this rut."

"Takeru is one of our short stacks, he's got seven million, been a little flop-light so far today. Still got a lot of blinds left, but he's well behind most other remaining players."

"He just hasn't been able to string together a run of good cards in order to vault himself among the chip leaders yet, it's been...he'll win a big pot, then he goes asleep for awhile, manages to stay alive by picking up some small ones here and there, and then wins a big one, it's been enough to keep him alive, but he hasn't been able to truly break out yet."

"Still, how many poker players in the world would kill to have a main event run that leaves you with a short stack on day seven?"

Takeru put out his big blind, two platinum chips, watching as players looked down at their cards and folded.

"Action is folding around pretty quickly, nobody seems to have anything...over to the hijack spot, two to the right of the button. Vijay Cado has ace ten of diamonds."

Cado put out four platinum chips along with nine silver and gold ones.

"Four hundred and ninety thousand from Cado, buys the button. Small blind folds as well, and action is over to Takeru."

Takeru, with a moment's pause, finally checked his cards. Jack of spades, jack of hearts.

"And Takeru's got a couple fishhooks, he won't be going anywhere! He might even three-bet, avoid having to play a pot out of position by just ending it now."

Takeru reached over to his chipstack.

"Takeru still has thirty-four bigs left, so there's no need to just shove."

"I call," Takeru said, grabbing a couple platinums along with nine silver and gold chips, pushing the required wager forward.

"Takeru's in the lead to the flop."

The dealer put out the five of clubs, seven of clubs, and ten of hearts.

"And that's a fantastic flop for Takeru, he's got an overpair to the board, and Vijay Cado has made top pair."

"Just the kind of flop that can get Takeru a bigger pot as well. Should be able to get paid off for at least a handful of chips."

Takeru checked, tapping the table a couple times.

"Takeru sends the action over to the preflop raiser, checking his overpair. Likely hoping that Vijay continues."

Vijay used his thumb to wipe away at a spot just underneath his left eye, then reached down towards his chips.

"Flopping top pair after raising before the flop, have to believe that Cado will continue. He won't be getting rid of Takeru."

Cado put out seven platinum chips.

"Seven hundred thousand goes into a pot of one point thirty-five million, just a shade over half the pot."

Takeru shuffled around chips in his right hand, looking over at the board.

"Vijay raised preflop and then continued on the flop, so he could still have anything. Of course, anything includes pairs bigger than jacks, so Takeru could be crushed here. He'll at least call, but given what Vijay has, a raise would actually be the best move, will Takeru be able to realize that?"

"One million more," Takeru said.

"Looks like he does, Takeru is going to check-raise his overpair, up to one point seven million chips!"

"That puts a pretty large portion of his remaining chips at risk, so he clearly feels quite good about his jacks. He puts out the seventeen platinum chips, and now the choice is back to Cado!"

Vijay rubbed his thumb over his lips slowly.

"I don't think he's getting away from this. If Takeru had queens, kings, or aces, he's almost certainly three-betting before the flop. It's very unlikely that Takeru has tens, with a ten in Vijay's hand and another ten on the board. Takeru's got flush draw written all over him, and I think Vijay is going to put the million in. He'd have to put Takeru on exactly jacks to get away from this."

He put a half-stack of platinum chips into the pot. "Call."

"Four and three quarters million in the middle to the turn. Cado needs an ace or a ten to take the lead."

The five of hearts appeared on the board courtesy of the dealer.

"Board pairs on the turn. Takeru has jacks and fives, Vijay has tens and fives."

"Dangerous card for Cado there. That five really shouldn't change anything, since Takeru almost certainly doesn't have a five. If Cado thinks he had the best hand on the flop, he likely thinks he's still got the best hand now."

Takeru grabbed two rainbow chips from behind his stacks, flipping them out into the pot.

"Two million from Takeru, he's going to continue to press the matter with his pocket jacks. And can Cado get away from top pair, top kicker, on a board like this?"

"How much do you have behind?" Vijay asked, voice thickly accented.

"About two point six," Takeru answered quickly.

"Having committed well over half of his stack to this hand, Takeru is pretty clearly ready to play for all his chips right here. What Vijay needs to figure out, is does he have an overpair, or does he have clubs?"

"I think you've got...one of two hands," Cado said, swinging his body away from the table a little bit. "I've got...two hands in mind. Just not sure which one."

"Vijay might be contemplating a raise to put Takeru all-in and possibly fold out a club draw, or at least force the club draw to pay the maximum to stay in. But if he does it, I have to believe Takeru's going to go with his hand."

"Alright, I'm all-in," Vijay said.

Takeru nodded. "Alright. Need to think about it for a second." He stretched his arms up above his head.

"And I don't think Takeru can fold for this price. Granted, it's his tournament life, but I think he's got to take a chance and hope he's not up against queens, kings, or aces."

"I'll call," Takeru said finally, turning over his two jacks.

"Yeah, that was one of them," Vijay said, turning over his cards with a frustrated grimace. "It was either that or the king high flush draw."

"Alright, drawing live," Takeru said, putting his fist up to his mouth and puffing a breath into his enclosed fingers.

"And Takeru's main event hangs in the balance of him dodging a rivered ace or ten. If he holds up, he'll have over fourteen million in chips, back above average. And Cado will plummet down to less than four million, he'll be down to fumes!"

The dealer, after a burn, put out the eight of diamonds.

"Takeru takes it! Just when he needed a boost in his stacksize, he lands a FULL double up."

"Nice hand," Vijay said, counting out chips from his stacks and putting them out into the pot. "Well played."

OOO

"See, this guy ain't going away!" Daniel Karns said, pointing over at Takeru. "He gets down in chips, he wins a big pot, he's hanging around. He's like the villain in a horror movie, you can't get rid of him!" He laughed a bit. "He's just lingering, waiting for an opening, and he's gonna come get me, I just know it!"

"Daniel Karns is one of the chip leaders right now, with forty-nine players left he's got over thirty million, but he's STILL got one eye firmly locked on Takeru Ishida. They have clashed quite a few times in this world series so far, and Takeru has routinely come out on top, so his fear has some justification behind it. And it goes to show how much respect Takeru has gotten over this world series."

"I wish I had a plan that advanced," Takeru said lightly, looking down at his cards.

"Under the gun plus two, Takeru's got...jack nine of clubs."

"Unopened pot, slightly below-average stack size, half-decent hand...might be enough to take a shot."

Takeru put out seven platinum chips and five silver and gold chips, marking a raise to seven hundred and fifty thousand.

"Takeru sticks in seven hundred and fifty thousand from a stack of fifteen million. Once again, he's got enough chips to play, but he finds himself in need of a pot in order to avoid becoming one of the small stacks in the room. Still has only been able to enjoy sporadic victories."

Daniel Karns, aftering watch a couple folds, had a look down at his hand. Nine of hearts, eight of hearts.

"This is a Daniel Karns sort of hand, he loves playing hands like this."

Karns threw his hands up in mock frustration. "See, why'd I even look at my cards? Should have just folded blind, now I have to get in a pot with this guy." He grabbed an array of chips, pushing them forward into the pot. "Just gonna step right into the bear trap, why not?"

"Well, Karns will have position in the hand, it's quickly folded over to the small blind. Scott Ramis looks down at...king queen offsuit."

"Six hundred thousand more, gotta believe Scott'll go for it."

Slowly, Ramis did indeed put out six more platinum chips.

"Three to the flop. Takeru doesn't particularly care for picking up two callers, he knows at least one of them is a favorite over him going into the flop."

The dealer dealt out the jack of diamonds, nine of spades, and five of clubs.

"He cares for it now! Takeru flops top two pair, jacks and nines! Karns flops a pair of nines, and Scott has a gutshot straight draw."

"Check," Scott said, pointing over towards his left.

"Takeru may as well continue here, there are a handful of straight draws out there, and a flop like that does tend to hit a cold-callers' range pretty well."

Takeru took out a rainbow-colored chip, sweeping it forward in one motion.

"That's a bet of one million, offers a pretty good price for both these players to call."

"Hoo boy, see what I've gotten myself into?" Daniel said animatedly, grabbing one of his own chips and tossing it forward.

"Daniel Karns does NOT like to fold pairs. Even middle pair is good enough. He probably thinks he can hit an eight or a nine on the turn, but either card would be a disaster."

With a few seconds of thought, Scott Ramis put in a chip as well.

"And Takeru picks up two callers, we're off to the turn. Nearly six million in the middle already. There are quite a few turn cards that could get Daniel or Scott into a world of trouble here. Only one that can give Scott the best hand, he needs a ten."

The deuce of clubs hit the felt.

"That card won't be getting anyone in trouble, the deuce of clubs hits neither. It does give Takeru a flush draw to go with his two pair, but a brick that big could kill his action."

After Ramis checked quickly, Takeru grabbed a full stack of platinum chips and slapped it forward into the pot.

"Two million goes into the pot, action over to Karns, who is now drawing dead. Gotta believe he'll give up now."

"Like I said, look at the trouble I get into," he said, taking his cards and sliding them forward towards the dealer.

"Karns is out, and Ramis still has nothing but a gutshot to a straight. Don't imagine he'll consider calling."

"Alright, take it," Scott said, sliding his cards out from his area of the table as well.

"And Takeru will take it down! He's still not a big stack, but wins like that will keep him moving forward!"

"This whole thing," Daniel continued. "This whole thing is part of a plot against me. He's making it look like he's going after you guys, and just when I think it's safe, he's going after me."

OOO

"Wait until you see what I have," Takeru said, intently shuffling his chips around.

"You got pocket threes again?" Karns asked with a laugh.

"No." Takeru swallowed down hard. "No. Better than that. Nominally, at least."

"Takeru Ishida finds himself in yet another brutal decision tree."

Takeru took a look back down at his cards. Ten of diamonds and seven of diamonds.

"I got one of those...big blind hands that gets you in trouble," Takeru replied, tilting his head back a bit. "Lot of draws out there though. If I call and win...suddenly I'm near the chip leaders," he mused, looking back over at Daniel. "It's a pretty big bet, Daniel. That kind of stuff sets off my radar."

"Two days ago, Takeru Ishida heroed with a pair of threes facing a bet that would put him all in. Now, he's got a pair of tens, facing a similar scenario."

Takeru stared down at the board again, giving it his full attention. King of diamonds, ten of clubs, six of clubs, four of spades.

"Club draw...queen jack...maybe some sort of combo draw..." Takeru twisted around a bit in his chair. "I don't think you have complete air...so that's all I can beat."

"Takeru hit the nail on the head in there, Daniel has queen jack offsuit. But, once again...Takeru's got to call off all his chips here."

"Early in day eight of the main event. Thirty players left in the field. Takeru can fold and be left with fifteen million, or about twelve big blinds. It's a question of Takeru's gut versus his survival instinct."

"If I fold, I've got...less than half the tournament average." Takeru took his handful of chips and placed them on top of his stacks. "Alright. I call."

"Can't get anything past you," Daniel grumbled, turning over his queen jack.

"HE'S DONE IT AGAIN!"

"Maybe I secretly just want to go home and nobody ever has a hand when they shove on me," Takeru wondered aloud, turning over his cards.

"Pair of tens," Daniel said, looking over at what he was up against. "I...that's a call I might have made, actually. Would have considered it. Great call though."

"Queen jack offsuit just seemed like the perfect open-limp hand," Takeru said, standing up. "Just couldn't get that hand out of my head when I was thinking it through."

"Takeru's got all his chips at risk, but he is ahead. Daniel Karns needs to catch an ace or nine to make a straight, or a jack or queen to make a pair. If Takeru holds up, suddenly, he's one of the biggest forces in the room. If Daniel gets lucky on the river, he will be an overwhelming chip leader. This might be the biggest river card of the main event so far."

Takeru, putting his hands up behind his head, turned to look at the dealer.

"Alright. Ace, queen, jack, nine," Daniel said. "Not so bad."

The dealer, with a couple taps to the felt, put out the queen of hearts.

"IT'S A QUEEN!"

Takeru, freezing for a moment to take in the news, gave a small wince, then broke into a smile.

"Hey, still a great call," Daniel said, quickly going over to Takeru's side and extending his hand. "Great playing with you these last few months."

Takeru digested the bad news for another half second, then turned and took Daniel's hand. "I'm rooting for you now, man." He leaned in closer and gave Daniel a hug. "Finish it off, man, it's like the one thing you haven't done in your career."

"You're special, man," Daniel said, pulling away from him a bit. "You've got my respect forever after this."

"And after a world series of getting pushed around by Takeru, Daniel Karns finally has his man! Takeru is out of the main event in thirtieth place, he will cash one point six million."

"It's the bookend to the greatest run the world series has ever seen. What do you even do as a poker player after accomplishing all this when you're just twenty?"

A rousing round of applause kicked up all around the room. Slowly, Takeru backed away from Daniel, putting his hands up in the air.

"Any chance I can borrow your good luck charm for the rest of the day?" Daniel asked, pointing his thumb over at Hikari, laughing a bit.

"I don't know if she works for anyone else," Takeru said. He turned around, unsurprisingly finding the familiar Miss Parker right behind him.

"Mister Ishida, you have a moment?" she asked, gesturing towards him.

Takeru nodded, still soaking in the applause from all across the room as he took the two steps to get up next to her.

"And now, with results etched in stone, Takeru Ishida will deliver the coda with a quick work to the lovely Erin Parker."

"Alright, Takeru, you just landed thirtieth place in the main event. You now own so many world series records, what you've done here over the last two months is historic...I don't even really have a good question for you, so just tell me how it feels."

"Uh..." Takeru nodded for a moment, then reached up to wipe at the inside corners of his eyes.

"Many players who get knocked out of the main event late do end up crying, but it's usually tears of sadness. I can promise you that Takeru's not shedding any tears of sadness right here."

"Uh..." Takeru stumbled over his words again for a moment. "I just want to say...thank you to everyone who puts this whole thing on. Jack Custer and all the tournament directors, you guys..." he stepped to take in a deep breath again. "What I've done over the last few months is...I never knew I could do it, I never thought I could do it. And everyone who makes this world series possible, I only was able to accomplish all of this because of you. All the players who come to play in it, all the people who watch it, everyone involved...you all gave me the opportunity to put on a show like this, and...thank you."

"Takeru doesn't really know how to address the full magnitude of his accomplishment, it would seem, so he's just going to pay respects. Classy move."

"And...for myself, I...I got some great friends who helped support me all the way through this...absurd run." He turned and pointed towards the rail at the familiar group. "We've all helped each other improve our play so much, we've all done some great things...and I wouldn't be half the player I am without them. I had a great teacher growing up, Joseph Abaid, my parents supported me when I started out, and...all of these things, the existence of the world series, the people behind me...it's all come together, and it's all built a scenario where I could do something like this. That's...that's really special."

"Well put, Mister Ishida," Erin said. "So, where—"

"And, let me tell you." He continued to gesture back towards his cheering section. "This woman, Hikari, I didn't know she existed a few months ago, but...whenever she's around, I really feel like things are going to go my way." He smiled as he managed to get her to put her hand up in the air to acknowledge that she was being addressed. "And you have no idea how much something like that is worth. How much that confidence really means to you when you're out there playing for millions."

With that, Takeru walked back over to the rail, hurdling it, barely giving Ken and Yuma enough time to back up enough to give him a spot to land.

"And with a final feather in his cap, Takeru Ishida goes back to join his friends, and who knows where his career will go from here."

"Hard to imagine it going up."

"So I guess I've got to get rid of it now, huh?" Hikari said, pulling out the queen of hearts from her pocket and holding it up.

"Get rid of it nothing," Takeru said, grabbing the card. "I just finished thirtieth in the main event, I'm laminating that thing when we get home."

"But it was the queen of hearts that got you on the river," Hikari pointed out, gesturing out towards the table Takeru had just left.

"I'll get over it," Takeru said, exchanging assorted shoulder slaps with everyone in turn.

"So, all that success, and you can't even cap it off by winning the main event?" Ken teased. "What did it all mean then?"

"Leaves me something to do next year," Takeru replied. "Alright guys, I just felt a fifty pound weight leave my stomach, so I'm starving now." With a slap on Hikari's shoulder, leaving his hand resting on it, he gestured his head away from the tables. "I gotta go eat something before my stomach shrinks."

"Twenty-nine remain, and every last one of them is probably happy to see the back of Takeru Ishida." 


	29. Tricky Turn

Chapter 29: Tricky Turn

"And...Takeru doesn't want to let it go. Can't imagine him actually calling this, the way this hand went Boyd could easily have an overpair. I think this is a super easy fold."

"Why so much?" Takeru muttered, looking back down at his chips.

"And even if Boyd has two overcards, like he does, Takeru isn't THAT big a favorite with two threes, so even calling and being right isn't that great a reward. Credit to Takeru for apparently smelling a bluff, but I think he's just got to let this go. It's his tournament life on a hand a half-hour before the end of day six!"

"What kind of bet is that?" He squinted down hard.

"Admittedly a bet that big on the flop is sort of suspicious, and Takeru seems to have picked up on that. Calling and being right is the stuff legends are made out of, but calling and being wrong is so ugly and obvious that you pretty much die of shame."

"Okay, I call," Takeru said. "Low cards, dealer."

"TAKERU CALLS!"

With a grimace of disgust, Tajh Boyd turned over his king of diamonds and queen of clubs. "Good call, I...king high."

Takeru flipped up his threes, drawing a recoil and a further look of disgust from Boyd.

Takeru couldn't help but crack a smile. Even after seeing it play out a dozen times before, it was still a thrill to watch the sequence. Reclining back across the couch in his hotel room, hands up behind his head, socked foot tapping the floor, Takeru took in the sight of his hero call for the ages.

On the table right in front of him, his personal assistant began to vibrate, rumbling back and forth across the surface. Takeru reached over and grabbed it, pulling it over in front of his face.

"Wow, what an unnecessarily huge pot. Both players are wondering how this happened. Boyd can't believe that he got called by that hand."

"I was thinking I could get you off...ace nine or something, I didn't think..." Tajh trailed off, head resting in his hands as he watched the dealer. "Wow."

Takeru's eyes danced along the screen of his device, even as he watched the video being projected up on the wall of his hotel room out of the corner of his eyes. "Just keeps getting better and better," he muttered, setting the device back down on the table.

Suddenly, a couple of soft knocks broke his attention, causing him to jolt up and look up behind the couch's back. He swung to his feet and quickly moved over towards the door. "Coming!" he announced.

He undid the latch on the door, opening it to find the welcome sight of Daisy, wearing a simple black dress.

"Hey there, champ," she said, quickly entering the large chamber, looking up at the video being presented on the wall. "So, does it look as good as it felt to do?"

She watched the river card get dealt out, giving Takeru the straight and the pot.

"Okay, be honest, does it make me look like a genius or a calling station?" Takeru said, watching the graphics alongside the screen change to represent Takeru as the winner of the hand.

Daisy shrugged. "History is written by the victors, right?"

"How did Tajh Boyd feel about Takeru's play? Let's find out."

The video cut to a closeup of Tajh Boyd in the interview room, no doubt taken after his elimination from the main event, which came not long after the hand that had just been shown.

"I'll be honest, I think it's a bad call," Tajh said to the camera. "I don't really see much point in me sitting here and being gracious about it, I'll...look, it's a great call, sure, you look at the results and it's an amazing call, but if we're talking about the actual gameplay, you can't convince me it's a profitable move." He shrugged. "I probably sound bitter, and I definitely am, but he had to go all-in to call that. It's his tournament life. That's hundred of thousands of dollars, maybe millions, that he just lost because he couldn't let go of a pair of threes."

"Oh, he's so mad, I love it," Takeru said, rubbing his hands together in front of him. Daisy pulled her black flats off of her feet, dropping them off by the door.

"The way I played the hand, I could definitely have had aces, kings, or queens. I raised before the flop, I check the flop because it's so dry that I want to provoke a bet so I can capture some extra value, and then I move in because I want the hand to be over." He gave a grimace. "I might do that with other overpairs too. Maybe I could have made a smaller bet, but...how bad would it have looked if he called and I turned over an overpair? I guess it wouldn't have mattered, he made the straight on the river, but...I don't know. To me, it's a bad call, I think he should be folding anything that isn't aces, kings, or a set. Believe me, I knew I could get called, but I didn't think I'd get called by that hand."

"You would NOT bet triple the pot with an overpair," Takeru sniped back as the video cut back to the poker table. "Sell it to someone else!"

"Okay, but...just for the sake of argument, if you had made that call and he turned over kings or something, what would you have done?" Daisy asked, looking around the large main room.

"Celebrate like hell when I make the runner-runner straight," Takeru replied dryly.

"No, I mean, before you make the straight," Daisy said, wandering over towards the couch, set up in front of the video feed's projection.

Takeru thought for a moment. "Probably something embarrassing. Something I'd regret."

"Where's Hikari?" Daisy asked. "She already in bed?"

"She stepped out for a bit," Takeru replied. "Said she wanted to go buy something across the street." Suddenly, he quickly dashed over towards the coffee table right in front of the couch. "Oh, you've gotta check this out."

Daisy watched, slowly taking a seat on the right armrest of the couch, as Takeru grabbed his personal assistant from the table and tapped the front of it a few times.

"Literally five minutes after my elimination got televised, it started blowing up. Still hasn't stopped. I made a folder just for messages." He handed her the device. "Scroll through those."

Daisy took it, eyes darting along the screen as her finger danced along it. "Dear Takeru Ishida, on behalf of Mike Halifax, we'd like to officially invite you to participate on Six Figure Stacks..." She slid her finger to the right. "Dear Takeru Ishida, Poker Den blah blah encourage you to enter our Super High Roller Bowl...Dear Takeru Ishida blah blah Premier League...Dear Takeru Ishida blah blah Panok Millions...Dear Takeru Ishida blah blah Million Dollar Cash Game..."

"I haven't had this many people tugging me in every direction since prom my last year at academy," Takeru said, looking over her shoulder. "The moment they knew my focus was off the main event, my inbox just blew up."

"Nice to be wanted." Daisy handed Takeru the device back. "Do as much as you can while you're young." She slid off the armrest, taking a seat on the rightmost couch cushion.

"Don't need to tell me twice," Takeru replied. "And, if you want in on any of it, I'll make it happen."

"I don't know if you have THAT much influence yet," Daisy said.

Takeru settled himself down into the middle seat of the couch. "Someone like you shouldn't have any problem securing seats on televised tables." He tapped his device a few more times. "And, check these out."

He handed it back to her, letting her quickly browse the text projected on the screen.

"Dear Takeru Ishida, dah dah dah, your exceptional world series run, yada yada yada, become an official sponsor of PokerHub!" Her eyes widened a bit. "Wow, that's...that's pretty meaty. Sponsorship deal."

"That's not even the end of it," Takeru said. "Keep scrolling."

Daisy gave the device a tap. "Dah dah dah dah dah dah, offer a sponsorship spot with Big Stack Poker, wow, okay...competitors."

"And, PokerWorld even threw their hat in the ring," Takeru added. "So I've got a bit of a decision to make."

"Not an easy one," Daisy said. "What are the offers?"

"Plenty of time to sort through the particulars later," Takeru said, catching his assistant as Daisy tossed it over into his lap. "Pretty similar though. But Big Stack offered me a point of the company."

"Oh, well, maybe it's not so hard a decision." Daisy crossed her legs underneath her.

"I'm sure I can get a point out of the others if I want to get them all negotiating against each other." Takeru put the device back down on the table. "Talk about an embarrassment of riches. Almost too bad I can only sponsor one."

"Mmhmm." Daisy turned her head back towards the screen up on the wall, still looking at Takeru out of the corner of her eyes. Slowly, she reached her hand over towards him.

"So, uh, any particular reason you dropped by—"

Takeru's sentence was cut off by the sensation of Daisy grabbing his right thigh lightly with her hand. He glanced down at the hand, slowly tracing up her pale arm, getting up to the playful expression she wore on her face.

"You looking for something?" Takeru asked, sounded just a little guarded.

"You could say that," she said, slowly edging herself over closer to him. Takeru's face gradually brightened as she closed the gap between their bodies, her hand continuing to playfully rub his leg.

"Oh, I see how it is," Takeru said, slowly beginning to lean back on the couch as Daisy continued to approach him. "Trying to buy while the stock is high? Get in on me now, right after I go on the greatest world series run in history?" He rolled his eyes, even as he fell back to a laying position, let Daisy tower up above him. "And I thought I never had to worry about you being a gold digger, how disappointing."

Blonde hair cascading down around her face, Daisy looked down at him. "Well...I was just thinking that...with everything that's happened here over the last couple months, it's...kind of made me think about how, we're all adults now. We've gone out into the world, played in poker tournaments with the best players out there, succeeded...we're not just kids with dreams anymore. We're adults."

"Sure," Takeru said, beginning to flush a bit red, as their proximity and position was enough to get him a bit hot under the collar.

"And...given that...we can do other adult things too," Daisy said. "Just a thought."

"So it's up to me?" Takeru said, a grin across his face. "Because if you're saying it's up to me, then you don't need to play coy, I'm in. Thousand percent."

The smile flickered a bit from Daisy's face, and she glanced away from Takeru. "Um, I...just so we're completely clear about things, I'll just come out and say it." She swallowed down a bit. "It is up to you. But...and I don't want to be that girl who...comes into the guy's life and starts a relationship with him and then tries to change everything about the guy. I'm not that girl, that's not what I want." She looked back down into Takeru's eyes. "But, if we take the plunge here, there are some things that you couldn't do anymore, so—"

"It's done," Takeru said immediately. "I know exactly what you're talking about, it's done," Takeru repeated. "I made that decision weeks ago, I'm...I'm moving on from that. No problem."

Daisy smiled again. "Happy to hear it." Takeru could feel her nimble fingers yet again rubbing against his inner thigh. "So, given that we've known each other for eight years, I'm open to just skipping the boring stuff and—"

Takeru reached his arms up in the air, grabbing Daisy's shoulders, and giving her a quick yank downwards. Her arm that was holding her upper body up gave, and Daisy's body fell right on top of Takeru's. Maneuvering her so that their faces were lined up, he pressed his lips right into hers, energetically pressing upwards.

Daisy was clearly eager to return the gesture, pushing right back into his lips, as her hands scrambled around, tugging at Takeru's clothing. The couch groaned a bit under the sudden violence as the two bodies went at it.

OOO

~Hikari~

Swiping the key card along the doorknob with her left hand, Hikari waited for the click of the lock before pulling it open. Her right hand held a circular tin with a clear plastic lid, a large apple turnover held secure within it, small streams of steam billowing from tiny ventillation holes along the side.

"There's a bakery down the street, their stuff looks better than the desserts the hotel serves," Hikari called out as she entered the hotel room, eyes on the couch in the middle of the room. "I spotted it the other day, thought we might try it..."

She trailed off as Daisy's head popped up from the other side of the couch, her hair a touch askew.

"Oh, hey there," Daisy said, giving a casual wave over towards Hikari. A beat later, Takeru's head also emerged, just to the left of Daisy's.

Hikari stared at the two for a moment, suddenly becoming aware of what she had just walked into, eyes widening a fraction of an inch.

"Ah, I..." Takeru gave a nervous little laugh. "Yeah, sorry, I...totally forgot you were coming right back, I got distracted by..." He gestured towards Daisy.

"Uh-huh," Hikari said, frozen in place a few steps past the door, holding the tray in both hands in front of her, swallowing down nervously.

"Right." Takeru scrambled to his feet, revealing that his shirt had been unbuttoned. "Uh, sorry, that's...with a roommate, kind of inappropriate, shouldn't have done that." He cleared his throat. "Uh, which bedroom is yours? The one on the right?"

Hikari just stared at the two for a moment, then suddenly seemed to snap out of a quick trance. "Y-yeah, I'm...the one on the right," she replied quietly.

"Okay, we'll just...get out of the way, we'll...the left one, we'll take it up there." Takeru, clearly flustered, reached down towards Daisy, letting her grab his hand and pulling her up.

"Whatever that is, it smells good." Daisy looked over at Hikari's tray.

"Yeah, uh, what's that?" Takeru asked quickly.

"The...the bakery across the street," she answered, a bit robotically. "I thought it'd be a nice dessert, so I went to grab one for us to share."

"Oh, that's...that's really thoughtful, thank you, but I'm not really...not really feeling like eating right now," Takeru said awkwardly. Daisy gave a little chuckle as he continued to fumble with his interaction. "Yeah, I'm not...it's all yours, no sense in letting half of it get cold, it's all yours."

Hikari gave a quick nod. "Sure."

"Uh, we'll just...we'll get out of the way," Takeru said, pulling on Daisy's arm, leading her over towards the staircase. "Oh, you know..." he stopped suddenly, looking back over at Hikari. "Actually, it could get...I guess, kind of loud in there."

"She's not eleven years old, TK," Daisy chided, rolling her eyes with an amused grin on her face. "Come on, you had her working with The Angels back home, show her some respect."

Takeru gave his head a quick shake. "Right, sorry, but point is, if you end up having a hard time sleeping because you can hear us, feel free to go rent out a different room for the night." Takeru pointed out towards the exit door. "The world series just ended so there are a ton of new vacancies. Just take one of my credit cards and charge it to me."

"Uh-huh," Hikari said. "I could...yeah, I think I'll just go do that now." She motioned over towards the door, slowly moving towards it. "Yeah, don't...you don't have to go up, I'll just go, it's fine."

"T-thanks," Takeru said. "Again, sorry, I...I forgot you were just about to come back."

"It's fine," Hikari said, going over towards a small bag hanging by the door, rummaging through it quickly and pulling out a small black card. "It's fine."

"E-enjoy the turnover," Takeru said awkwardly, watching Hikari head towards the door.

"See you tomorrow," Hikari said, happy to exit the room and click the door shut behind her.

The moment she was back out in the hallway, she just stood there, hand hanging on the doorknob. She pursed her lips, slowly releasing the knob, letting her hand fall down to her side.

"Huh." She looked back down at the tray in her right hand.

After a moment's thought, she walked over to a circular trash can positioned between two doors down the hall and, with a shrug, deposited the tray into the opening of the can.

OOO

"Well, I'm not very smart," Hikari said, looking around the small, plain room. Little more than a dresser and a pair of small tables on either side of the bed. She plopped herself down on the side of the bed, reaching down to pull her shoes off. "No. Not at all."

She looked up at the ceiling, letting herself slowly fall backwards onto the top of the sheets. She spied the brown ceiling fan up above her head. It was incredible, how quickly her mind had shifted gears the moment she had seen Daisy and Takeru together on that couch. Instantly, she felt quite silly, letting her imagination run out of control, seeing things that could not possibly have been there.

"I never got a formal education," she continued musing to herself. "So I guess I have a good excuse, but...nope. Not very smart." She rolled over and quickly crawled her way up to the top of the bed. "Ah well. What can you do?" She gave a small sigh as she laid back with her head on the pillow. "Can't compete with that. Can't. Compete. With that."

OOO

With a bit of trepidation this time, Hikari swiped the key card across the doorknob. She heard the click, and reached forward to grab the knob. She wasn't quite sure what she would be greeted with upon opening the door. Her imagination was now running wild with images of a completely trashed room, the aftermath of a long night of passion between the two young adults, a celebration of sorts for the end of the world series.

But, as the door gave way to her, there was no such image of chaos. All was largely as it was last night, when she had walked in, holding the dessert. Again, she mentally chided herself for thinking such ridiculous things.

"That you, Hikari?"

Hikari stepped into the room, looking towards the small kitchen area on the left side. Daisy was standing behind the counter, wearing an oversized white shirt, hands on the counter, looking down at the stovetop.

"Hey," Hikari said quietly, waving towards her.

"Morning," Daisy said, stretching her neck back, looking up at the ceiling. "Hey, listen, sorry about last night, I know that's got to be an...awkward thing to walk in on."

"No problem," she replied softly, though a bit stiffly, going over towards the counter. "It happens, it's fine."

Daisy nodded. "And I want to thank you too." She reached forward, adjusting the knob on the stovetop. "You've been a really good influence on him, I think. Believe me, I've had my eye on him for awhile, but...he needed to leave some things behind first. I think you helped push him in the right direction."

As Hikari pulled up a seat at the counter, she felt a quick flash of anger. As she had mentally gone over all the angles of what she had seen last night, she kept coming back to how it just wasn't fair. She couldn't compete, couldn't compare, with someone like Daisy, and last night just catalyzed the fact in her mind, seemingly reminding her of her place. She had spent the last few weeks doing things that seemed to take the ceiling off of her life, experiencing things and being treated as if she didn't have a predefined place. And now, suddenly, there it was again. Back in place.

Looking at her just made all these things more obvious. Golden blonde hair, big doe eyes, large chest, perfect figure, she was like a sculpture created by an artist trying to define the ideal looking woman. And then you had her background, daughter of a millionaire supermodel, her intelligence, her personality...it really wasn't fair. And in this moment, untrue though it might have been, it seemed like Daisy's existence was almost mocking her.

"What you doing?" Hikari asked from behind a thin smile, trying to change the subject, looking over at the stovetop. A frying pan was on one of the burners, a couple cooking eggs on the surface.

"Oh, I...I thought it'd be cute if I made him breakfast," Daisy said, looking back down at the pan. "Now I'm thinking something else." She gave a small frown. "We've got all the room service chefs in the world downstairs, maybe I...maybe I should just bail."

"Don't know how to cook?" Hikari asked, resting her elbow up on the counter and letting her hand prop up her chin.

"Not too well," Daisy replied, giving a glum little look down at the pan. "I've done it a little before. I'd just hate to give him food poisoning the day he's supposed to accept the world series player of the year award." She shrugged. "Well, it sounded cute in my head, but...oh well." She turned the burner off.

"Where is he?" Hikari turned her head around, looking behind her, up towards the staircase that lead up to the bedrooms.

"He's still asleep," Daisy answered, pointing up at the bedroom on the left.. "I don't want to wake him, he...we didn't exactly sleep much last night."

Hikari grimaced a bit at this, but held her tongue. What could she say anyway?

Daisy gave a small little laugh. "But really, I...thank you." She nodded over at Hikari. "You've been so good for him."

Hikari turned back around towards her. "Just, uh...was just doing what I felt was right."

Daisy took the pan, leaning down towards a trash can underneath the stovetop and dumping the attempted breakfast into it.

"We're gonna be spending a lot of time together," Daisy added. "Gonna be a lot of fun. I'm sure you've seen all the invitations Takeru's been getting since yesterday."

"Uh-huh," Hikari replied.

"He's gonna tour the world, playing in all the big games," Daisy said with a smile. "He said he wants me to come with him, I...I'm sure he'll want you along as well."

Hikari nodded again. "Yeah, it's...gonna be great." She pursed her lips a bit.

OOO

~Takeru~

The jet touched down on the tarmac, landing gear softly hitting the ground. Quickly, the side door eased open, a small staircase folding open down to the ground.

Takeru was first down the steps. His right hand adorned with four bracelets around the wrist area, clattering together as he moved, and the ring finger was sporting a new silver piece of jewelry as well, a ring to signify his player of the year award. His parents and older brother waited for him at the foot of the newly formed staircase.

"Well then!" Hiroaki exclaimed as Takeru took the steps two at a time and careened to a halt down on the tarmac. "Guess I made a good investment when I gave you that ten grand when you were twelve."

"Consider yourself paid back many times over," Takeru replied, slapping his father on the shoulder.

"You're really something else," Natsuko added, coming forward to embrace Takeru in a hug.

"Hey, Hikari, go see your brother!" Takeru called out, looking back towards the plane exit door. The brown-haired girl was quick to dart down the steps. "I'm sure he can't wait, go for it!"

"And thank you for your wonderful work with my son," Hiroaki added as Hikari jumped down to ground level. Hikari froze upon being addressed by the elder Ishida. "Whatever you're doing, keep it up."

"Yes, sir," Hikari said, giving him a wave of acknowledgement before sprinting off towards the main complex.

"So...fourteen million dollars, and how much do those bracelets sell for?" Yamato joked, reaching over to touch one of Takeru's platinum rewards.

"Forget it," Takeru protested, whipping his arm away from Yamato. "Only suckers who don't pay their taxes have to sell off their bracelets."

Yamato smiled. "Okay, so...twelve years from now, you'll sell em?"

"We're setting up a room in the vault just for them," Hiroaki continued. "They're not going anywhere you don't want them to go."

"Very nice," Takeru replied. "Alright, enjoy me while I'm around, because I won't be for very long." He cupped his father on the shoulder as he walked past him, spinning him around as he began to beat a path towards the main building. "Wait, where's the cart?"

"Out of order," Natsuko explained.

"Oh, you're making me walk?" Takeru deadpanned. "This some sort of commentary about how you guys think I haven't been working out the last couple months? Because I have, like...every day almost."

"No, stuff just...breaks down from time to time," Hiroaki said. "I know you take care of yourself."

Takeru swallowed down a bit. "Alright dad, I've got some pretty serious business to sort through over the next few days. My inbox blew up. Everybody wants me while I'm hot."

"I'll cut out some time to look it all over," Hiroaki answered, as his older son and wife caught up behind him. "This is a very important moment in your life, we should make the most of it."

Takeru's smile suddenly faded, as he became a bit more serious. "One of the messages I got was a bit...different." He swallowed down a bit, suddenly stopping and turning towards his father. "Michael Gandolfini."

Hiroaki's face hardened a bit. "He contacted you?"

"Actually pretty innocuous," Takeru said. "His son's having a birthday next week. His son apparently was really thrilled by my world series work, he watched it constantly, and he'd be thrilled I made an appearance to meet him in person."

"He wants you to come to his son's birthday party?" Hiroaki re-iterated. "What, you gotta dress up as a clown? Make balloon animals? Put on a magic show?"

Takeru gave a small smile. "Well, if this son wants to challenge me to heads up, maybe I'll make some of his money disappear...but I imagine I'll just pop in and mingle for a minute."

"Sounds...sounds fine to me," Hiroaki said. "If you wanna do it, I don't have a problem."

Takeru glanced away. "And while I'm there...good a time as any to make Michael an offer."

Hiroaki winced a bit. "You know, you really don't have to involve yourself in all this, right now you should be focused on your career. Forget all the side drama."

"I am focused on my career," Takeru insisted. "Both of them. And I'm already involved." He turned back towards the building, leading the way for the small group. "Just come up with a number and tell it to me before I go."

"I really don't think I can come up with a number that'll be close to what he'll even consider accepting," Hiroaki warned. "I know what this arrangement is worth to him, and I have a feeling that he'll value it at far more than I can offer."

"I'm not saying it's likely," Takeru replied. "But if there's even a small chance of it working, we should take a shot. I'll be in town anyway, I'll be doing a favor for him with his son, I'm at the peak of my celebrity status right now, there will never be a better time to try it." He looked back over his shoulder. "Just think of a number. Worst that happens is he says no."

Hiroaki, with no small amount of hesitation, finally nodded. "I don't think you'll like what Michael will say. But if it'll make you feel better, I'll come up with something."

"Thank you," Takeru said. His voice picked up in volume a bit. "Hey, so, mom, you know how you've told me before you want me to settle down with one girl and stop messing around with The Angels?"

OOO

~Hikari~

"So, four bracelets is a lot?" Taichi asked, scratching his temple.

"Yeah, it's a record," Hikari answered.

The two siblings had convened in the loading area behind the casino, where large trucks would transport various goods. A giant garage that received food, clothes, and furnishings. After an initial warm greeting, the two had moved away from the building, off towards the streets around the casino, standing on the sidewalk, away from everyone else.

"So you brought him good luck?" Taichi continued to question.

"Well...I guess," Hikari said. "Look, I don't know, but the point is, he's really happy with how things went, and...he wants me to travel around with him."

Taichi reached an arm around Hikari's back, pulling her close to him. "I think that's amazing. This Takeru, you stick by him, if he wants to take you around the world, then that's something you should cling very tightly to."

"I plan on it," Hikari replied, nodding happily. "How about you?"

"Oh, don't even ask about me," Taichi replied, face wrinkling a bit. "My life is so boring compared to yours now, if I...if I say one word about what I've been doing you'll fall right to sleep. I do the same thing every day, I couldn't make my days sound exciting no matter how hard I try."

Hikari nodded slowly. "Well, sometimes, boring isn't bad. But yeah, it's...it's exciting. Takeru did...really, really well at the world series, he..." she gave a wistful little smile, scratching the back of her head. "He even found love, I guess."

"Oh yeah?" Taichi asked.

"Oh yeah, this...amazing, great, awesome woman that he's known for years, they finally...finally got together, they're a perfect couple, it's a match made in heaven, and...and I'm a big dumb idiot."

"Well that's...wait, what?" Taichi tilted his head down towards his younger sister.

"Oh...look, Tai, I'm sorry to bring you into this nonsense, but...I don't have anyone else I can dump this to, and I...I want to talk about it with someone so I can get it out of my head. I think if I just say everything out loud to someone, I can bury it, and I want to bury it, because it's dumb."

Taichi shrugged. "I'm listening, but...you're not an idiot, whatever you say."

Hikari sighed. "Tell me how you feel after I'm done. Okay, so...I don't even know what point I have, but...somewhere in everything that happened over the last few months, I started to get this feeling. You weren't there, so just...bear with me here. The way our interactions evolved, the way he talked to me, the way he treated me, I...I guess I just let myself think that maybe there was really something developing between us."

"There was," Taichi said. "He wants you to travel around the world with him and watch him play cards, that's...that's not nothing. And you're saying that he's treating you great, that's...that's definitely a something developing."

"I know." Hikari gave a wry little smile. "I know, but...you had to be there, I guess. I really did feel like it might have been more than just that." She looked up at the sky, shaking her head. "So, for awhile there, I let myself think it was possible that he actually was starting to...love me, you know?"

Taichi nodded. "Hey, hope's a good thing."

"Dangerous thing," Hikari countered. "It's both. So, with the world series ending, I...the dumb part is, I wasn't even hoping anymore, I was almost expecting it. After the main event, I thought...he'll have a few days off, and he'll use the opportunity to start a romantic relationship!" She rolled her eyes. "I was actually completely right, but...someone else called dibs eight years ago."

Taichi closed his eyes for a second, a smile coming to his lips. "Wow, I...sorry, can I just take a moment to think about this? Three months ago, we were in a daily battle for our lives, think of the problems we had back then. Now look at these problems. You're...you're upset that a boy you like is dating another girl." He rubbed at his forehead. "I'm sorry, I know I might sound like I'm ignoring your problem, but...there's really something beautiful about that."

"No, that's the other thing that makes me want to kick myself," Hikari said. "I mean, everything that's happened over the last three months. Some guy came out of nowhere, saved my life, saved your life, undid all the damage that Hido did to us, took this huge burden off my shoulders, treated me great, and...given what I've been through in my life, I shouldn't expect more, should I?"

"If you tell me that you felt like it was coming, then I believe you," Taichi insisted. "I mean, this guy, he's your knight in shining armor, right? He saved you, took you to a better life, treated you great, and you were just waiting for the next part of the story."

"I really felt it!" Hikari gave a little shake of her head. "It just made so much sense, and then...you walk in on him, in the first stage of a makeout session with his long-time close friend, and you realize that it make no sense at any point and you were just being ridiculous."

"You're being literal with that?" Taichi asked. "Like, you actually—"

"Yes, that actually happened," Hikari said, nodding.

"Well, that's no fun," Taichi muttered. "Um, I really don't have any experience with this sort of thing, so I don't really know what to say specifically."

"That's fine, there's not really anything to say," Hikari insisted. "I just need to vent some of this stuff so I can just put it out of my head." She squinted for a moment, turning towards the road behind her. "That's the other thing, this girl was right there the whole time. I knew her, I talked to her all the time, she's really nice, I knew about the history between her and Takeru, and I just kind of put it out of my head so I could run wild with this silly fantasy." She pursed her lips. "And then, you walk in on them having a tongue war, and...suddenly, you remember that...he's a celebrity with wealthy parents, she's a budding supermodel with wealthy parents, and you're just some girl he picked up on a whim to work for his family's business. And then you want to punch yourself in the face for being dumb."

Taichi nodded. "Look, I—"

"You should see this woman, by the way," Hikari said, turning back to her brother. "Really, this girl, wow, your jaw would hit the floor. You'd look at her for half a second, and you'd get why I feel foolish right now."

Taichi bit his lower lip. "I think our former owner might have destroyed my ability to really...appreciate the female form." He gave a small shiver. "So I'm not sure about that."

"Well, if you're still having lingering issues down there, one look at this woman and you'd be good again," Hikari insisted.

Taichi gave a quick smile that faded immediately. "I'm sorry, Kari," Taichi said. "I think I kind of get it. I was thousands of miles away, but...so much insane stuff has happened to us lately, why wouldn't you think that one more crazy twist might come?"

Hikari gave a little hiccuping laugh. "This morning, I...I didn't do anything stupid, but I actually was getting angry at this woman. I didn't say anything, of course, but..." she threw her hand up in the air limply. "What can I do? She's rich, she's beautiful, she's nice, she's funny, she's really smart, I...what can I even do?" She shrugged. "She's aces. On the button."

Taichi bit down on his cheek a bit.

"She's aces on the button," she repeated. "Why would Takeru play anything else when he can play that?"

"I'm not a part of your world, Hikari," Taichi reminded her. "I just move crates back and forth all day."

"Aces on the button is..." Hikari shook her head back and forth. "Nevermind, it's...she's really, really great. And I don't want to get upset at her for being great, but it's...just frustrating, I guess."

"Just try not to let it get you down," Taichi said comfortingly. "You've got a lot to be happy about."

"Oh, I won't," Hikari insisted. "I'm fine, I just wanted to let it out with someone who'd listen." She gave a wry little look. "Who else can I talk to about something like this?"

"I'm here for you," Taichi said. "Look, wherever he takes you, just try to enjoy it. Did you ever think you'd see the world like this potentially?"

"Yeah, I've got...I've got no responsibilities, he dotes on me at every opportunity, I've got it great!" Hikari nodded enthusiastically. "Believe me, that's what makes the fact that I'm actually bothered by something like this even more annoying."

"And...nothing's over," Taichi added. "Things can change, crazy things can happen. Maybe, some way, some how..." he gave a large shrug. "He clearly likes you a lot, so it can't be ruled out."

Hikari sighed. "Not sure that's what I needed to hear," she said, nevertheless turning back to Taichi and hugging him.

"Hey, I meant what I said," Taichi said. "Hope is a good thing. And you're amazing, this Takeru would be lucky to have you. If he ever realizes that, then...maybe."

She nodded. "Alright, thanks for listening to my nonsense. I think I'm done with it now." She pulled away from him. "I'll be around for a few days, so we'll make sure we spend a lot of time together." 


	30. Just To Gamble

Chapter 30: Just To Gamble

"You guys are early," Daisy said as she opened the door, squinting as she looked back and forth between Takeru and Hikari. The two were standing on the front doormat, Takeru with his hands folded in front of him. Daisy was wearing a red swimsuit, her hair stringy and tangled, and was clearly quite wet. A large white towel was in her left hand.

"You're answering your front door personally now?" Takeru said airily, stepping past her and walking onto the front foyer. "Thought you were above that. Or are you just looking to show off?"

"Yes, I'm just dying to show the world how I look right after I get out of the pool," Daisy said, rolling her eyes as she put the towel up on top of her head and began to vigorously rub it back and forth along her hair. "You knocked just as I was walking past the door." She peeked up towards Hikari. "Hey there, come on in."

Hikari stepped into the entry room, looking around at the pair of paintings up on the left wall and a small circular table with a figurine of a white lion atop it. The Scott residence was a luxury condominium, not quite the size of the mansions she had known the wealthy to live in, but it made up for it with design and decor. The structure had a perfectly maintained yard circling it, helping to highlight the architecture of the condo itself. And the moment Hikari stepped inside, she got the sense that every square meter of the place had been packed with as much showy indicators of wealth and status as possible.

"We're only twenty minutes early, you know," Takeru pointed out. "I know we're all friends, but were you just going to host us looking like that?"

"Hey, I could go roll around in a dirt pile and still look better than anyone else here," Daisy shot back, draping the towel over her shoulder. "That being said, I do need to shower." She turned around, large bare feet slapping at the tiled floor as she made her way towards the upward staircase on the far side of the foyer.

"Oh, me too," Takeru said, taking a couple large steps across the foyer and boarding the staircase behind Daisy. "Let's save time and water."

Daisy gave him a disdainful look. "You know, I do actually need to clean myself in there. I smell like chlorine."

"Okay, you know how to multi-task," Takeru insisted. "We'll help clean each other, it'll go faster."

"Alright, alright," Daisy relented, reaching the top of the steps, then looking back down towards the first floor. "Down the hall, second door on the right, dear," she called out. "If you hear a knock, it's probably the others, let them in if you want to."

Hikari gave a little wave as the couple disappeared around the corner, Takeru having reached his hands over to Daisy's sides, giving her a squeeze and drawing a couple of giggles from the young woman.

OOO

"Oh, no no no," Sammy said the moment he entered the small room, pointing over at Hikari.

The game room was fairly quaint, a green felted poker table with ten chairs surrounding it, along with a couple tables on the right wall, and a dartboard on the far wall. The left wall had been peppered with a small collection of paper certificates, representing Daisy's various successful world series cashes. Hikari was sitting behind one of the chairs on the far side of the room, right behind Takeru, crossing her legs underneath her.

"What's your problem?" Takeru asked, putting his hands out to his sides as he looked over at Sammy.

"I'm not playing against you for anything with her in the room!" Sammy protested, nevertheless a large smile on his face. "You think I don't see what's going on here?! I'm not betting a stick of gum against you when she's around!"

"Already coming up with the excuse when you lose, I like it," Takeru said teasingly.

Sammy looked around the room quickly. "We short-handed tonight? People running late?"

"Yeah, I think we're gonna end up six-handed," Takeru answered, reaching down to adjust the belt on his pants. "Miyako's handling some family business, Yuma's out of town...I think Daryl can't show."

"Six-handed, good enough," Sammy said, quickly taking his seat on one of the empty chairs. "Alright, my favorite dealer, what's up?"

"Evening, sir," Juliet replied, sitting down in the dealer's chair and beginning to scramble out a deck.

"Okay, so, I'm just going to crack the tension," Ken said suddenly, looking over at Takeru from the seat to his immediate left. "And silence will be taken as an affirmation. Did you flop the nuts with Daisy?"

Takeru gave a sharp little sigh. "I don't know how you're not better at poker than you are, I...nothing gets past you." He rolled his eyes. "Yes, but...don't be obscene about it."

"Obscene," Ken repeated, a bit of a chuckle in his voice. "It was your...your hair, gave it away."

Takeru raised an eyebrow over at his friend. "My hair?"

"Your hair has the look of someone who just got out of the shower and towel-dried it," Ken explained. "As does Daisy's. Most likely explanation is you two showered together, which can only mean...what?"

Takeru blinked down a few times, expression flat, before being unable to resist cracking a smile. "Alright, guilty as charged, we're...we're on."

Ken extended his fist out towards Takeru. "Congratulations, my man, you two are gonna be great together."

"We are," Takeru agreed.

"Finally, he makes a play," Sammy said, shrugging his pack off his back and setting it down on the floor in front of him. "If you didn't do something, I was about to do something."

"Yeah, I'm sure it's just that easy for you," Akira joked. "Just...turn on the charm and whatever you want is yours."

"Wow, what a couple months for you," Ken mused. "Greatest world series of all time, you settle down with a girl for the ages, I...good to be you."

Takeru nodded. "Hey, uh..." he glanced around the room, then turned back to Ken. "Poker Den Super High Roller Bowl Cash Game, two days, you in?"

Ken tilted his head down for a moment, forehead wrinkling, then he nodded. "Yeah, if I can get in, sure."

"You're a bracelet winner, you can get in if you've got the cash," Takeru insisted. "Me and Daisy are gonna hit it, you wanna come with us?"

"Sounds great," Ken said. "Sign me up."

"And while we're in Tumwater for that, there's some minor business I need to take care of as well. Some kid, he wants to meet me, birthday party or something. If you and Daisy were there as well I imagine he'd like that too." Takeru's hands wrung together in his lap. "Not a big deal either way, but it shouldn't be too big a commitment."

"I'll go," Ken said.

"Surprise!"

Everyone in the room looked up at the entrance. Daisy, wearing a thin, short, white jacket over her shoulders and red flip-flops, but otherwise still wearing her swimsuit, entered, holding her hands out to present Koushiro Izumi, stepping into the room, holding a black suitcase.

"Koushiro!" Ken exclaimed, jumping to his feet and quickly stepping over towards the two. "What are you doing in here with the minnows, huh?"

Koushiro gave a small smile as he received a high-five from Ken. "I don't have many rules in life. But when Takeru Ishida invites you to Daisy Scott's place to play cards, you say yes. That's one of the rules."

"Oh, you decided you don't like money anymore?" Sammy asked, turning towards Takeru. "Now you're inviting the biggest shark to swim with us?"

"Hey, we got to get some of the money that he took from us back," Takeru said with a grin. "How are we gonna get it back if we don't play him?"

"That's a very dangerous path we're going down," Sammy warned. "I'm not sure if playing him at poker is the best way to get money from him."

"It was either that or play five-handed," Takeru countered, shrugging.

"Alright, we haven't played a home game in a couple months, so...let's try to get off the tournament track." Daisy went over to the back corner of the room, opening up a glass cabinet's front door, revealing rows and rows of colored chips.

"Well, given we're all professionals now, I think we need to push things up a little bit," Ken said strongly. "Besides, we need Prodigious here to take us seriously, so I propose we play three hundred and six hundred blinds."

"Let's ante too," Takeru added. "One hundred dollar ante."

"Oh, you want to ante now?" Daisy said, pulling a couple of chip racks out of the cabinet. "Big boy feeling his oats?"

"We're six handed, it'll help drive the action," Takeru insisted.

"I'm down with the ante," Koushiro said, nodding to himself, opening his suitcase.

"I know you're down with anything," Akira said, looking over at Koushiro bent down towards his luggage. "Sure, sounds nice."

"Okay. So..." Daisy went over to the table, setting the racks down on the felt. "White chips are one hundred, red chips are five hundred, green chips are one thousand, black chips are five thousand?"

"Seems about right," Ken said.

Koushiro suddenly placed out five large bricks of cash on the felt in front of him, immediately drawing attention away from the matter of what chip colors meant.

"I'll buy in for five hundred thousand to start," Koushiro explained, lazily pointing at the money he had just placed out.

"I might need to buy more chips," Daisy said after a beat, looking down at the bricks of cash.

"I was going to impress everyone by buying in for three hundred thousand," Takeru muttered. "So much for that."

"How do you think I feel?" Akira said. "I only brought a hundred thousand."

OOO

Chips had been distributed to everyone, multicolored towers in front of them on the felt. Ken sat to the immediate left of the dealer, Daisy to his left. Sammy was next over, then Takeru, with Koushiro and then Akira making up the right side of the play area.

"I think it's a great way to get the action going, I think we should just do it now before we actually start playing," Sammy said, bobbing his head up and down. "The more people who do it, the better, it'll get the money flowing, makes for a better game."

"Well, I'm out," Akira said, leaning back in his chair. "Like I said, I only brought a hundred thousand, can't do it."

"Are you okay if we do it though?" Takeru asked, motioning his finger around the table.

"Oh, yeah, I think it's great, I wanna watch, I just...I don't have the money to spare," Akira explained.

"You can borrow some," Ken suggested. "Just borrow another fifty thousand if you don't win."

"Nah, it's...don't worry about it, I just wanna watch."

"Okay, I'm in," Koushiro said, grabbing a stack of black chips, cutting it in half, and putting it out in front of him.

"I knew he'd be in," Sammy said, grinning. "Takeru, come on now, don't you dare turn this down."

"Oh, I'm doing it," Takeru said quickly, putting out ten black chips. "I'll never live it down if I don't do it. I win fourteen million dollars at the world series and I'm gonna turn this down?"

"Ken?" Sammy turned to look down the other side of the table. "You in for fifty thousand?"

Ken blinked a couple times, before nodding. "Fifty thousand dark, sure." Ken grabbed a half-stack of black, toppling the tower forward. "Can we get one more?" He turned towards Daisy, who looked indecisive.

"Well...I dunno," Daisy said, tilting her head back and forth. "Not sure I wanna do it."

"I'll take a piece of you," Takeru offered, gathering up five black chips and tossing them down the table towards Daisy.

"I'll do it if Akira does it," Daisy said, pointing down the table towards Akira.

"No, I'm not doing it," Akira insisted. "It's fine, I just don't have the bankroll for it right now."

"Come on, Daisy, that's half of it," Takeru said, pointing down at the five black chips he had just sent over to her. "I'll take half of you, I think you're gonna win it. You're the host tonight, I like your chances."

"Nah, it's okay." Daisy took the five chips and threw them back over in front of Takeru. "I don't feel like doing it, you guys go ahead and flip."

Sammy shrugged. "Four is good enough for me."

"Yeah, you guys are crazy gamblers, you guys go for it," Daisy said, nodding.

"Alright, uh, Daisy, you and me have to spot them an ante if we're not gonna do it," Akira said, grabbing a white chip from his stacks and pushing it forward.

"Huh?" Daisy craned her head up to look at the white chip. "Can we play?"

"You can play for fifty thousand," Takeru said.

"Wait, so...so if I get dealt aces, I just have to—"

"You have to throw them away," Ken said.

"Yeah, if you get dealt aces, you have to fold," Akira reiterated with a laugh. "We can get aces and fold."

"Wait, then what's my hundred doing out there?" Daisy asked, grabbing one of her white chips and holding it inbetween her fingers. "If I can't call what's my ante doing in there?"

"That's just for being a wimp and not wanting to put fifty thousand in there," Sammy answered. "Either put in the fifty grand now or just put the hundred in. You don't even have to look at your cards, but you can't play."

"Ah...I'm not going for that," Daisy said, leaning back in her chair.

Juliet began to deal out cards to each player.

"No no no, deal me a hand!" Akira insisted, waving over towards the cards as they were sent out. "Deal me a hand, I want to be able to fold aces!" Juliet grabbed the card she had just given to Ken, sent it over to Akira, then gave another one to Ken.

"So if I get dealt aces, I can't play?" Daisy repeated. "And my hundred's just dead?" She put her hand down on top of her cards.

"Yeah, I'm folding, you're folding, and these four guys are just going blind," Akira said.

Daisy pursed her lips. "I haven't looked at my cards yet, can I..." she looked down at the backs of her two cards. "I'm thinking about sticking the fifty thousand in before I look."

"You get a better game that way," Sammy said.

Akira took a quick look at his cards, then threw them over to the dealer. "Yeah, I fold."

"I don't like losing that hundred for nothing," Daisy said, cutting out a half stack of black chips. "I swear I haven't looked, I can still put this in, right?"

"Sure, if you haven't looked," Takeru said. "I'll give you half, like I said, then you just have to put in twenty-five."

"No no, it's okay." Daisy tossed the chips in. "Okay, I'm in for fifty thousand. I haven't looked yet, I swear."

"Putting in fifty thousand to save a hundred, I like it," Koushiro said with a laugh.

"Yeah, losing the ante actually bugs me," Daisy said.

"Ooooooh," Sammy said, slowly looking down at his two cards. "I like this hand! I like this hand a lot, actually. Very nice!"

Koushiro held his two cards up, exposing them over in front of Akira. "Look at this," Koushiro said with a large grin. "Look at this."

"Ooh, that's fun!" Akira said, unable to resist laughing at the absurdity.

"I have the nuts, I can't lose," Koushiro said.

"What do you have?" Sammy asked.

"I'll tell you this much," Akira replied. "He's suited and connected."

"Me too," Sammy said. "I'm suited and connected."

"Yeah, I'm suited," Koushiro affirmed. He turned over his hand, the five of diamonds and four of diamonds.

"So we're just flipping them up?" Daisy asked, looking over at Koushiro's hole cards. Takeru turned over the eight of hearts and nine of diamonds.

"May as well just play them face up," Sammy answered, showing the ten of clubs and nine of clubs.

"Wow, the ten nine is dominating so far," Akira murmured, looking down at everyone's cards.

"My first card's an ace," Ken reported, showing the ace of hearts on the mat. He flipped up the other one, the five of hearts.

"Oh, you have a five?!" Koushiro shouted, throwing his arm up in the air in mock anger, then started laughing again.

"Okay, let's find out..." Daisy bent her head down and slowly pried one of her cards up. "Four across spades...ooh, am I the only one with a spade?" She looked around the table. She flipped up the ten of spades. "Okay, that's...probably not good," she said, looking over at Sammy's ten. "And...okay, hearts, three across, what the..." she showed the six of hearts. "Ugh, I'm dead. What a waste of fifty thousand."

Akira broke out into cackling laughter, ducking his head down onto the felt.

"Alright, so...one of my nines is in Takeru's hand," Sammy muttered, looking down around the table. "That's not great."

"Daisy, you're in business for a six," Akira said, looking over at her hand.

"Seven eight nine?" Daisy said hopefully. "Two of the nines are gone though. I have the only spade, I guess."

"Hey, there are a lot of clubs left in the deck," Sammy pointed out, looking down at his two clubs. "In case anyone hasn't noticed, a lot of clubs out there still."

"I like diamonds," Koushiro said, nodding over towards Juliet. "I'd go for some diamonds."

"Hey, Akira, what did you fold?" Sammy asked, looking over at the player in the rightmost seat.

"Uh, king deuce," Akira answered.

"No diamonds, right?" Koushiro asked.

"King of diamonds."

"Ooooohhh," Koushiro moaned. "I don't like that."

"I need two sixes on this flop," Daisy said. "TWO sixes, that's what I need."

"Sure, six six three," Koushiro replied quickly. "And then a deuce on the turn."

Sammy glanced down at Takeru's cards. "Well, I'd say that that's one hand I don't have to worry about, but...she's here." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at Hikari.

"You think I have a bad hand?" Takeru said, unable to stop grinning. "What makes you say that?" He picked the eight up off the felt. "You see this? You see anybody having any of these?"

The entire table erupted into laughter.

"Yeah, what's so bad about my hand? They don't know." He glanced around the table. "They don't know."

"Ahh, I just want the queen jack of clubs," Sammy said, looking over at the dealer. "I don't even care if I get there or not, just give me the straight flush draw on the flop."

"That was a good line, Daisy," Takeru said, pointing over to his right. "What a waste of fifty thousand."

"Yeah, that was a good one," Akira said, still laughing to himself.

"Well, it is," Daisy said.

"Look at Ken, though," Akira said, looking across the table at his cards. "He hits an ace, it's pretty much over."

"I'll tell you one thing," Takeru said, looking over at Daisy. "I'm glad you didn't take the twenty-five thousand."

"I had a good feeling too," Daisy added. "I had a good feeling, that's why I put the fifty in."

"You're gonna win it, I bet," Takeru mused. "The least interesting hand is gonna win, it's gonna come like...eight six three."

"Eight six three, then a seven...then a nine?" Akira suggested.

Daisy motioned over towards Ken. "He's gonna win." He then looked back to Sammy. "You got a real fun hand though, I like that hand." She leaned forward. "Hey sweetie, how'd you do at cards tonight? Oh, I lost fifty thousand on the first hand. How? Got it all-in with ten six offsuit!"

The table all started laughing again.

"Hey, you wanna know what else?" Takeru said with a smirk. "You wanna know how sick this is? Me and Ken are crossbooking."

"You guys are counting this in the crossbooking?" Sammy asked. "I thought I was the crazy gambler."

"Yeah, we're on, right?" Takeru asked, looking over at Ken.

"I think so," Ken replied. "We're on."

"Wow, so...one of you could win half a million on this hand?" Akira said. "That's pretty sick."

"No no, we're crossbooking thirty percent." Ken licked his lips. "If I win, he'd have to pay me...seventy-five thousand on the side for this hand alone. And vice-versa."

"I just couldn't turn down getting four-to-one on my money either," Daisy said. "Alright, let's see what happens."

"You're really gonna need me on this one," Hikari said, standing up to look over Takeru's shoulder.

Juliet patted the felt a few times, burned a card, and then flipped up three cards on the felt. Five of spades, seven of spades, jack of diamonds.

"Euuugghhh..." Koushiro said, grimacing a bit as he looked at the flop. "Pair of fives for me and Ken..."

"Oh, that's a good flop for Takeru," Akira said.

"Yeah, that puts me in the hunt," Takeru said. "Alright, not bad."

"Wait, shit, you need a six for a straight, I can't win!" Daisy snapped, eyes darting over to Takeru's hand. "No, wait I...okay, I need running spades. That's real nice."

"You've got some backdoor straight draws too," Takeru mentioned, looking down at the cards. "You've got the five-six-seven."

"Yeah, that's...that's not a good flop for me," Koushiro said, wrapping his knuckles down on the felt a few times.

Juliet put out a fourth card, a three of hearts.

"Ooh, four!" Daisy said, putting her hands up in the air. "Gutshot!"

"Yeah, give her the straight," Takeru said. "Give her a straight to the seven."

Koushiro's forehead wrinkled a bit. "Aw shit, I'm dead!"

Takeru started laughing as Koushiro stood up, giving a mock armswing of frustration.

"Yeah, he's...drawing stone dead," Akira said, laughing as well.

"Wait, you...oh, yeah, Ken's got the ace five." Daisy put her hands up in the air. "Alright, let's go, FOUR!"

Juliet dealt out the jack of spades.

"Dang it," Daisy said. "Okay, Ken won?"

"Yeah, Ken's got it," Koushiro said, sitting back down.

"Okay, so...I owe you seventy-five thousand on the side," Takeru said, nodding as Ken took in the significant pot. "You just made almost three hundred grand by just sitting there and watching cards turn over."

"Alright, let's get started." Koushiro whisked his cards over to Juliet.

OOO

"You know what the world record for push ups is?" Akira asked. "I actually looked this up a few days ago, the world record for nonstop push ups."

"Uh...eight?" Koushiro replied, tossing two green chips out into the pot.

"I used to know this," Daisy said, with a bit of a chuckle at Koushiro.

"Ten thousand eighty-five," Akira replied, looking down at his cards and folding them over to Juliet. "Some guy did ten thousand and eighty-five push ups without stopping."

"No offense, you just...you don't look like a guy who can crush it at push ups," Koushiro said, looking down the table at Ken. "Your arms look pretty thin."

"No no, trust me, this guy packs a lot into a small frame," Takeru insisted. "You'd be surprised what this guy's got."

"Okay, so, what's the game?" Koushiro asked. "So it's me and Daisy, and we're guessing what?"

"You and Daisy are bidding on what Sammy thinks Ken's record for consecutive push ups are," Takeru explained.

"So, it doesn't matter how many what Ken's record actually is, it only matters what Sammy thinks Ken's record is?" Koushiro clarified as Ken put out two green chips past his cards.

"Yeah, and you have to bid up," Daisy added.

"This feels like a setup," Koushiro said. "Okay seriously, do you guys all know what his record is already?"

"I just set the record this morning, they can't know," Ken explained. Daisy mucked her cards over to Juliet as well, allowing Sammy to do the same. "I spent the whole world series working on my upper body strength, and I set a record this morning. Destroyed my old one."

"I'll tell you what the old record is so it's fair," Sammy said. "His old record was two hundred and nine."

Koushiro thought for a moment. "I'll start at...two hundred and ten, I guess."

Ken gave a little chuckle. "Oh, that hurts."

"Two hundred and eighty-four," Daisy said quickly.

Meanwhile, Takeru took back his big blind and put out two green chips as well.

"Three hundred and eight." Koushiro offered, as Juliet put out the eight of hearts, jack of hearts, and two of clubs.

Daisy thought for a moment as Takeru checked.

"Three hundred and forty-nine," Daisy replied.

Koushiro grabbed a black chip and a green chip, putting the two out onto the felt, a bet of six thousand into a pot of seven thousand two hundred. "Okay, I buy, I'm under three hundred and forty-nine."

"So if it's three forty-nine or more, Daisy wins, and if it's under, Koushiro wins, right?" Sammy said. "My number was three ninety-two, Daisy's got it."

"Wow, lot of faith in your friend," Koushiro said, grabbing one of his black chips from his stack and passing it behind Takeru and Sammy, over to Daisy.

"Faith my butt," Ken shot back, folding his cards over to the dealer. "You're all way off, you all suck, except MAYBE Daisy." He looked over at the blonde. "Daisy, what was your highest bid gonna be?"

"My magic number was three seventy, actually," Daisy replied.

"Okay, you all suck, because I did five hundred and eighty-two pushups in a row this morning," Ken said, pointing around the table. "Not even close, it's like you guys don't even know me!"

"Well, in fairness, I've only known you for like two months," Koushiro pointed out. Takeru, meanwhile, put out six red chips past his cards.

"Five hundred and eighty-two?" Daisy repeated. "That's something to be proud of."

"Alright, alright..." Sammy thought for a moment. "What can we do next?"

Juliet put down the four of spades.

"Okay, okay, how about..." Ken paused for a moment, turning to take a sip from a glass of beer. "Okay, me and Takeru bid on what Daisy thinks Koushiro's age was when he lost his virginity."

Koushiro snorted loudly, focus suddenly taken away from the board. "Seriously?"

Takeru nodded, checking as he did so, tapping the felt. "We've already done that one for everyone else here, you're the only one here who hasn't had that one yet."

"Well, I would hope so," Koushiro said, reaching forward to tap the felt as well, checking behind. "I'd hope you guys aren't sitting around guessing what age I was when I lost my virginity when I've never even met any of you!"

"Alright, Daisy, you locked in?" Ken asked, as Juliet put out the eight of spades on the river.

Daisy gave a nervous little grin. "Alright, I'm in deep trouble with this one. Yeah, I'm locked in."

"Okay, I'll start at eleven," Ken said slowly.

Takeru ducked his head down, trying to supress a fit of laughter.

"Okay, this game is taking a turn for the dark," Sammy snorted out, grinning maniacally all the same.

"I have to start low!" Ken protested. "I'm not saying anything about Koushiro, I just have to start with a low number!"

Takeru got together three black chips, scattering them forward into the pot.

"Okay, Takeru, bid or buy," Daisy said, fighting through a series of giggles.

"Uh...okay, fifteen," Takeru tried, looking over at Koushiro after placing the bet out.

"Sixteen," Ken countered, absentmindedly shuffling some chips around in front of him.

"I'll push it to seventeen," Takeru quickly stated, as Koushiro furrowed his brow and looked back down at his cards.

Ken nodded, biting his cheek in thought.

"I don't like folding pairs," Koushiro mused, resting his head up against his palm as he looked down at the board. "Don't like folding top pair."

"Eighteen," Ken said suddenly. "I'll say eighteen."

"I buy," Takeru replied quickly. "I say lower than eighteen."

"Ken wins," Daisy followed as Koushiro continued to consider the hand. "I had twenty."

"Oh, come on, that can't be close!" Takeru protested, nevertheless taking a black chip and tossing it over in front of Ken. "No way, this guy was making hundreds of thousands of dollars when he was sixteen."

"Yeah, but when you're playing online poker all day, when are you gonna cut out time to hook up?" Daisy countered, shrugging. "He had a bankroll to manage, who has time for relationship drama?"

"I just don't think you'd play a heart draw like this," Koushiro said, tossing his cards over to the dealer. "Twos full or...fours full or something."

"How can you lay that down?!" Takeru said, turning over his pocket twos and putting them out in front of him. "All the draws missed, how can you not pay me off?"

Koushiro gave a small smile. "Something didn't smell right when you checked the turn."

"So what is it?" Akira asked, looking over to Koushiro. "What's the right answer?"

"Do I have to say? Is it part of the game?" Koushiro said cautiously, clearly a tad shy.

"You don't have to," Takeru answered. "But it's kinda interesting to see how right or wrong people were."

"Oh my God, please don't say there's no answer," Ken said. "Please don't say the answer is never."

"He and Mimi almost did it on national television on the floor of The Horseshoe's poker room after he won the ten grand heads up, no way he's still a virgin," Takeru pointed out.

"Well, I guess I should feel a little offended by Daisy, so I'll set the record straight." Koushiro cleared his throat. "Sixteen."

"Woooow!" Daisy gasped. "Not even close!"

"Takeru's got the right idea," Koushiro admitted, pointing over at the blond. "I might be a socially awkward nerd, but when you're a teenager in Leavensworth and you suddenly have mad stacks, the action tends to find a way to you."

"See, told you," Takeru said, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Usually I have good radar about this stuff," Daisy insisted. "Sixteen, wow, not bad."

Takeru nodded. "Fat lot of good being right does me." He scoffed. "Twenty, get out of here." Suddenly, he held his hand out towards Juliet. "Wait, wait, anyone up for adding another player?" He turned around, pointing over at Hikari. "Hey, come on, we need another player, game's getting dry."

Hikari perked up a bit, pointing at herself.

"Yeah, let's go, get her a hundred thousand in chips, let's get some action!" Takeru insisted.

"Wait, seriously?" Hikari asked.

"Yeah, sure, just let her check her bank account to make sure she can afford it," Sammy said with a little laugh.

"I'm buying her in, obviously," Takeru said quickly. "Come on, we're short-handed, let's spice the game up with someone new."

"Ummm..." Koushiro grimaced for a second. "I mean, I am here to actually play poker, so...no offense, but I'm not gonna put the training wheels on or anything—"

"Don't," Takeru insisted. "Just do your thing. No training wheels, we're throwing her into the deep end."

"Uhh..." Hikari stood up. "Alright, sure!"

"See, there we go! We're surfing the wave here, who wants to be sick?" Takeru reached down towards his bag, pulling out a large brick of cash and tossing it onto the felt. "She's in for a hundred thousand."

"You've won so much money lately, you're just tossing it around left and right?" Daisy said, nevertheless smiling broadly as Hikari went over to collect some racks of chips. "Great, I finally start dating you, and now you choose to reveal your lack of fiscal responsibility."

"Hey, you never know, she might just pull something off!" Takeru insisted. "When you're not playing with your money, it tends to free you up to do crazy things!"

Hikari pulled up a seat to the right of Ken and to the left of the dealer. "Okay, so, big blind is six hundred?"

"Yeah, six hundred," Takeru confirmed. Hikari began to put out her chips into stacks in front of her. "Hey, just try to have fun, but I WILL check-raise you into the ground if the opportunity strikes."

Suddenly, Ken blinked a couple times, looking over at Daisy. "W-wait, you started...you started dating Takeru?!" Ken did an especially horrible job of sounding surprised, a performance worthy of a theater play put on by eight-year-olds. "Oh, heavens, I might faint in shock!"

Daisy gave Ken a slightly reproachful look. "Uh...okay then." She looked around the table. "And yes, jig is up." She shrugged.

"There was never any jig," Takeru said, looking over at Ken. "He's just being a weirdo."

Ken smiled. "Yeah, congratulations, both of ya."

"Alright, let's go! Deal her in!" Takeru pointed over at Hikari.

"Wait wait," Sammy said suddenly. "Can we put on deuce seven? I wanna play deuce seven."

"No objection here," Koushiro replied. "I mean, as long as Hikari doesn't mind."

"What's deuce seven?" Hikari asked.

"If someone wins a hand holding deuce seven, they win the pot and everyone has to pay that player...what are we gonna do?" Takeru looked around the table. "Five hundred each?"

"I'm down for five hundred dollar deuce seven." Ken looked down at his pile of chips.

"I don't wanna get in the way of it if everyone else wants to do it," Hikari said. "Yeah, deuce seven, go for it."

OOO

"So tight," Ken said as Hikari folded her cards over to the dealer. "Come on, loosen up a bit, it's not your money that you're playing with."

"There are like seven world series bracelets combined at this table," Hikari said with a bit of a laugh. "I'll tread lightly, thank you."

"No, do something crazy," Takeru goaded. "Come on, go nuts, raise all-in without looking at your cards, see if I care."

"If I do that and lose, will I get more chips from you?" Hikari asked with a grin, folding her hands in front of her face.

"Maybe," Takeru offered, watching Ken fold, allowing Daisy to put in two green chips and a red chip. "I might."

"I've only played like six hands," Hikari pointed out as Sammy and Takeru got out of the way. Koushiro folded as well, leaving Akira to muck. "Give me time."

"Wow, can't get any action?" Daisy said, looking around the table before taking in the small pot. "I don't play that tight, come on everyone. Play some hands!"

Quickly, a new hand was dealt out, Hikari pushing out her big blind as the cards were fired out. Ken folded, with Daisy making a quick exit as well.

"Alright, make it two thousand," Sammy said, after a quick peek down at his cards.

"Oh, Sammy's got the deuce seven already," Takeru said jokingly, folding his hand as well. "That was quick."

"Yeah, come on, deuce seven is supposed to generate some action, let's get some action flowing." Koushiro, however, folded over to Akira.

"I like how the people who keep saying there should be more action are the ones who keep folding," Akira said, a bit of a laugh as he looked down at his cards and folded them as well. ""

Hikari finally looked down at her two cards. Seven of diamonds and two of spades.

"I think we should just always put deuce seven on when we play, it's so good for the game!" Ken stated. "You don't know if they have deuce seven or if they have aces, how is that not good for the game?"

"Raise it up," Hikari said, putting out a black chip and two green chips.

"How much total?" Sammy asked, craning his head up to look at the bet. "Seven thousand total?"

With a grab at his stack, Sammy had a black chip in his hand, and flipped it out into the pot.

"Alright, everyone get your five hundred ready, because one of these two definitely has deuce seven," Daisy said with a large grin, looking back and forth between the two players as Juliet put down the queen of diamonds, six of hearts, and jack of spades.

Hikari put her fist down on the felt a few times, tapping it. Sammy was quick to tap his finger on the felt a few times as well.

"I guess we have to root for whoever doesn't have deuce seven," Daisy added.

"They both have deuce seven," Akira suggested.

Juliet brought out the eight of diamonds.

Hikari thought for a moment, then reached over towards her stack of chips. "Seventeen thousand." She put out a full stack of green chips, taking three back as she put it out past her cards.

Sammy glanced around the table for a few seconds, before grabbing one of his green stacks and putting it out. Taking three back into his palm as he pulled his hand back, the call was made.

Juliet completed the board with the six of clubs.

"How much you got left, Sammy?" Hikari asked.

Sammy looked over his chipstack for a moment. "About sixty-five thousand."

"Forty thousand," Hikari stated, cutting out eight black chips past the yellow line on the felt.

Sammy's nostrils flared a bit, as he leaned back heavily in his chair. He grimaced, then glanced to his left and right. "I mean, I know she wouldn't be bluffing here in a million years is the thing." He looked back down at his two cards. "This sucks."

He took a handful of chips that he had out in his hand and put them back on his rows of stacks. "Aces...queens...jacks...alright." His nose wrinkled. "You hit a two outer on me, I just know it."

Sammy turned his two cards face up, throwing them over towards Juliet in the process. King of spades and king of clubs. "Alright, there you go, Hikari, take it."

Hikari reached forward towards her cards. Takeru pointed down towards them. "Go, show the deuce seven!"

Hikari turned her hand face up, exposing her cards to the whole table.

"Oh my God!" Ken gasped out as Hikari showed.

Sammy jumped to his feet. "That, that was the only thing I thought!" He slapped his hands together hard, nevertheless unable to keep a grin from his face. "That was the only thing I was thinking!" He pointed his finger up in the air, looking around the table.

"H-how do you fold kings on that board?!" Daisy asked, eyes on the cards Sammy had just folded, still looking a little shocked.

"I was sitting there, thinking that she'd never bet that big unless she had something better than kings, I was thinking...queens full, jacks full, maybe aces, maybe eights full," Sammy said, sitting back down heavily. "And then at the end I thought, the only bluff she had was deuce seven specifically, that was it! Everything else, I can't beat!"

"I like that deuce seven game," Hikari said as everyone around the table tossed a red chip over towards her.

"I just sat there, and I was sure she had a full house," Sammy insisted. "And I didn't even know if she'd try the deuce seven game, so...I thought I was making a great laydown." He grinned again. "That's pretty good. Nicely played."

OOO

~Takeru~

Impervious to all weather conditions occuring outside the shell, the streamlined jet zipped through the air, slicing through it like a samurai sword. Tumwater City was to the north, over a small body of water, another large and prominent city. The technological marvel that was the jet could make the journey in a few hours.

Within the passenger section of the luxury jet were four young adults. Takeru was standing up by the wall near the cockpit side, leaning back against the wall, hands in the pockets of his tan pants. Ken, Daisy, and Hikari were seated in the three closest chairs, all intently looking at him.

Takeru cleared his throat. "Alright. What I'm about to share with you three is highly confidential and private, I'm only sharing it because I have the utmost trust in all of you to not spread it around. And because you three could become involved in it, even indirectly, and it'd be unfair for that to happen without me having said anything."

"Go ahead," Ken goaded. "Secret's safe with me."

Takeru peered over at Hikari. "We good?"

"Absolutely," Hikari said firmly. "What's bad for you is bad for me."

"Okay, so...tonight, we're going to spend a little bit of time at a birthday party." He pulled away from the wall a bit. "Nothing special. This guy, he's about our age, a little older, and he's a...I suppose you'd call him a poker enthusiast. He spent the last two months watching the world series, and I guess it'd just really make his day if he met us in person."

"By us, you mean you," Daisy said wryly.

"Hey, Ken's a bracelet winner," Takeru pointed out. "And you're...you're you, I can promise you he'll want to meet you." He nodded his head. "So, this guy. This is the thing. His name is Vincent Gandolfini."

"Aahhhh," Ken said, suddenly realization hitting him. "Okay, I get it, tread very lightly."

"Well, yes," Takeru agreed, taking a couple of steps towards his friends. "That's probably a good idea."

"Just to be sure, we are talking about the son of Michael Gandolfini, right?" Daisy said, raising her hand up in the air by the side of her head.

"Indeed." Takeru swallowed down. "So, yes, treading lightly can't hurt, but don't hold your breath."

Hikari held her hand high up in the air. "I, uh..."

"Oh, oh, right," Takeru said. "Okay, so...to put it quite plainly, Michael Gandolfini is a very bad man. That's the...the only fair way to put it. Probably more than a quarter of the organized crime in the world today comes back to him in some form. He's spent his entire life building his criminal empire off the back of the criminal empire his father built before him. Simply put, he's the boss of the bosses. You name it, he's involved in it. Untold billions of dollars, flowing through the infrastructure he has set up all around the world, all of it fine-tuned to be distanced from him." He pursed his lips. "Plenty of people know damn well who he is and what he's done, what he's involved in, but...not really much anyone can do."

"Uh-huh," Hikari said, forehead wrinkling in confusion. "And we're...we're going to his son's birthday party?"

Takeru nodded. "Just when you think it can't get any better, huh?" He smiled grimly. "Look, we won't be in danger, I can say that. Michael values his high society contacts, he values his ability to distance himself away from criminal activity, we're not...we're not going to walk in there, have a shotgun shoved in our faces, and be held for ransom. That's not how this guy does things."

"That being said, think carefully about what you say and do," Daisy said, nodding over at Hikari.

"But why would you do a favor for him?" Hikari asked. "Doesn't sound like someone you want to be connected to."

Takeru nodded. "I couldn't agree more. And that's the thing." He paused for a few moments. "Okay. So, all three of you know the story of my father and The Mecca. But there's always one thing I leave out."

"Go on," Ken said. "You're in a safe space."

"Okay. My father, for all his...rabid success as a small casino owner, and even with the financial backing of many groups, was still an extremely long ways away from being able to fund the construction of a large casino." He pursed his lips. "He left no stone unturned in looking for loans and grants and backers, believe me, but...well, a place like The Mecca takes some very serious cash to get started." He bit down on his cheek. "So, he...went to the one group that could get you that kind of money."

"Okay, I'm...painting a picture here," Ken said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking up at the ceiling of the jet.

"Yeah." Takeru tilted his head a bit to the right. "The Bosses. Five guys who control so much. Michael sitting at the helm of the group. Oh, they got him his money, they...they liked his work, they liked his potential. They got him enough to get The Mecca off the ground, and of course, it's off to the races from there. Happy ending, with a catch."

"Well. I'm just going to go out on a limb here and guess that The Bosses didn't get where they are by just giving out hundreds of millions of dollars to anyone," Daisy said, scratching the back of her head.

"Yeah." Takeru sat down in one of the seats, having slowly paced over towards it. "Every month, a guy with an empty suitcase enters our fine establishment, traverses down into the bowels of the casino, beneath the ground, and gets into the count room. He loads it up with money, and then walks out, jumps on a plane to Tumwater, and delivers it to The Bosses. The suitcases keep getting bigger as The Mecca's profit margins get bigger, and they're not going away." He bit his lip. "It's a lingering problem that I'd like to be rid of."

Ken crossed his right leg over his left. "Y'know, if...look, I get it, everything you're saying, I know what you're talking about, but...what exactly is it that you're planning? Because if it's marching into his house and telling him that you don't want to give him his cut anymore, then I'm not entirely sure I want to be there."

"I'm planning to offer to buy him out," Takeru explained. "I'm not saying it's a good bet to say he'll take it, but this is the best chance." He swallowed down hard again. "Michael and my dad have a pretty icy relationship, they don't really get along, they just try to stay out of each other's way and let the money change hands. My dad can't possibly propose something like this, but...I'm just some kid who's good at poker, I'm doing him a favor, at least he'd...hear me out."

"Not exactly treading lightly," Daisy pointed out.

"I know, but...look, I think it'll be fine. He'll probably turn it down, but...I think that's the worst that can happen. This isn't a...this guy is a lot of things, but he's not a violent person for the sake of being a violent person." He leaned back in the chair. "And I need this arrangement to go away, I'm inheriting the casino one day. We're knowingly giving millions of dollars, every month, to a criminal organization, not to mention that the money that goes to The Bosses never gets taxed." He shook his head. "It's been going on for years, haven't gotten in trouble yet, but...it's so easy for things to fall apart. And really, if The Bosses ever get into trouble and need to sell out some people to protect themselves, my father's got to be pretty near the top of the list. I can't go back in time and prevent the arrangement, but...if I can end it now, I can at least sever the ongoing connection between them and us. Lot less chance this stuff gets out if there's no more payments being made."

"Look, it's your father who did this," Ken mentioned. "I know the place will be yours one day, but...this is some pretty heavy stuff. Your father made the mistake."

"I'm not even going to say he made a mistake," Takeru said quickly. "I'm not saying that he didn't make a mistake." He sighed. "You know, it's one of those things, where...look what became of it, but...look at what you have give up to get there." He swallowed. "My father's a good man, he just...made a questionable decision."

"I know your father's a good man, I'm not saying otherwise," Ken insisted. "If this is something you feel like you need to do, go ahead, but...this sounds like it's beyond us."

"I think I have to go for it," Takeru replied. "I want our connection to organized crime to be gone. Everything that happens inside that casino is one hundred percent legal and legit," he said firmly. "My father is upfront and honest about everything within those walls, it's the foundation of the place that got built on something bad. Can't change that, but...at least this way, it gets buried."

"And...assuming he does decline your offer...what then?" Daisy asked. "Because that strikes me as a likely ending."

Takeru sighed, eyebrows rising up a bit. "Look, all I know is that this is a ticking time bomb, and I need it to go away. So, if he declines, then...I'm not sure. This is the easy way out, I feel obligated to take a shot at the easy way, but...well, let's worry about the other ways when we're done."

"You have no idea what you're going to do," Ken said matter-of-factly. "Not a clue."

"That obvious?" Takeru smiled thinly again. "Yeah, I...I don't even know what the hard way is."

Ken nodded. "Okay, okay, I'm reading your emergency signal, I..." he gave a little chuckle. "Gonna regret it, but...I guess I can't pass up the challenge." He sighed. "I'll try to come up with something if he turns you down."

"Thank you," Takeru said, sounding quite relieved.

"Yeah, getting the sense that it's the main reason why you brought me along," Ken commented dryly.

"It's good to have someone smarter than you helping with something like this," Takeru replied.

"Hey, if you can admit that part of it, then what kind of friend would I be if I left you out to dry here?" Ken said. "Hoo boy, taking on The Bosses, what the hell have I gotten into by knowing you."

Daisy licked her lips, looking behind her at Hikari. "Look at the stuff this guy gets us involved in," she whispered, nevertheless smirking.

"At least it's exciting I guess," Hikari said, nevertheless sounding rather cautious.


	31. Bluffing The Flop

Chapter 31: Bluffing The Flop

Hikari couldn't quite get the memory of the Ripley estate out of her mind as she scanned over the imposing, impressive mansion before her. Sure, it was certainly different in several places, with limestone walls making up most of the structure and a rectangular shape to the entire building. But the size of the mansion was familiar.

Surrounded by wrought iron fences, it was an imposing locale, suitable for the head of an organized crime outfit. She didn't feel great, being beckoned through the large gates, into the front yard, but being near Takeru had a comforting effect on her.

Takeru was at the head of the group, Ken right behind him, both of them dressed to impress, as was typical, with sharp light-colored suits. They hardly stood out, however, as the couple dozen people present out in the front yard area were all similarly well-dressed. Daisy, as always, was sure to turn heads in a red spagetti strap dress and white open-toed heels, fitting in quite well with the handful of attractive young women already present.

"Oh my GOD!" A young adult, looking about as old as Takeru, with slicked-back black hair, broke off from a conversation with a few others to rush towards the new guests. "I almost didn't believe it when my dad told me you'd come!"

Takeru gave a warm smile, reaching his hand out towards the young man. "You must be Vincent?" He allowed Vincent to take his hand and shake it. "Good to meet you, happy...twenty-second birthday?"

"That's right, twenty-second birthday," Vincent affirmed, nodding, grinning like a hyena. "Oh my God, this is...dude, I was watching everything at the world series."

"It was quite a couple months," Takeru said. "I feel fortunate to be on the happy end of everything that happened."

"You're really special," Vincent continued. "I wish I could do what you do, but..." he shook his head. "I don't have the patience for tournaments. But, watching someone like you, someone my age, run through fields of elite players over and over like that, I...wow."

"I understand you're quite the poker observer," Takeru said. "You play at all?"

"Oh, yeah, I...I play cash games over at The Yuko downtown," he indicated, pointing to his right. "Few miles that way, I...at least twice a week, usually more." He shrugged. "I, uh...got nothing on you, that's for..." his gaze was finally taken away from Takeru as his eyes flashed up a bit. "Oh, whoa!" He finally caught a glimpse of Daisy, who gave him a wave and a smile.

"Happy birthday," Daisy said, taking a step forward to be by the side of Takeru.

"Oh, oh...wow..." Vincent blinked rapidly a few times, looking around at the ground in front of him. "Oh, you're...yeah, you're Daisy Scott, I remember!"

"Guilty as charged," she said, reaching her hand forward. He took it, going quite red in the face.

"Yeah, you...you final tabled the Holdem Turbo tournament, I remember," Vincent said suddenly, face brightening up. "I didn't know you'd be here!"

"Wow, very good," Daisy said. "You've got quite a memory for the world series, to remember a trivia fact like that."

"Daisy's my girlfriend," Takeru explained. "When your father requested my presence today, I thought...maybe you'd like to meet her too."

"Oh, y-yeah, yeah!" Vincent said, eyes scanning her. "Wow, you're...you're a lucky man, Mister Ishida."

"Takeru's fine," Takeru insisted. "I don't do the formalities anymore, I'm too young for that." He squinted. "Actually, you're older than me, so yeah, I'm not having that."

Vincent pointed behind Daisy. "Oh, you...yeah, you won the Lowball Deuce Seven, you're Ken Ichijouji!"

"Man, nothing gets past you," Ken said, stepping forward to shake his hand. "Yeah, you must have...watched the world series coverage non-stop to have all this stuff memorized."

"I watched it a lot," Vincent admitted, nervously fidgeting around. "Oh, wow, you're..." he pointed over behind Takeru. "There's the...yeah, I remember you from the coverage." He gestured over towards Hikari. "You're the good luck charm! Uh...Hikari?"

"That's me," Hikari said quickly, still feeling a bit intimidated by the surroundings.

"I...I wish I had a good luck charm that worked half as good as you do f-for him," Vincent said, grinning again. "Oh, man, I...I love meeting professional poker players. And the guy who just ran a mack truck over the world series, wow, this is a big one." He pointed over towards the house. "Come on in if you want, there's...a lot of people and a lot of food here. I'm sure a lot of them are...they're gonna like to meet you too."

"Sure thing," Takeru said. "Your father's around?"

"Yeah, he's in the house," Vincent said. "Come on, follow me, let's...let's go around."

Vincent turned around, waving the group forward as he went towards his front porch. As they followed, Daisy looked over her shoulder at Hikari. "Would you ever guess?" she said in a low voice.

Hikari was inclined to agree, and gave Daisy a quick nod.

"We'll be around for a bit," Takeru explained as they went up the couple steps to the porch area. The people milling around began to realize exactly who had just shown up, and no small amount of attention was drawn by the small group. "Don't worry about us bolting off suddenly, we've got no real plans tonight."

"Oh, oh!" As the group entered through the front door, revealing a large entrance room with a spiral staircase, as well as a few hallways going in various directions, Vincent spun around. "You, uh, you guys wouldn't happen to be in town for the Super High Roller Bowl Cash Game this week?"

"Uh, yeah, actually," Takeru answered. "We'll be in that, yeah. That's actually at The Yuko, isn't it?"

"I'm doing it!" Vincent said, with a giant grin. "I'm gonna be in it, I...my dad, for my birthday, he gave me three million dollars and secured me a seat, said go have fun for the week!"

"Oh!" Takeru's eyes went a bit wide and he gave Vincent a smile. "Wow, that's...quite a present. Hey, I hope we run into each other over there, I...there are only a few tables, we might end up playing against each other."

"I...I'd love that," Vincent said, still grinning. "I mean, it might not end too well for me, but...you know, it'd be fun, right?"

"Three million, that's...that'll last awhile." Ken stepped forward, looking around the large entry room.

"I don't know, I...I tend to play pretty high variance," Vincent admitted. "Whatever I do, it happens fast, so...but, you know, I'm just there to have a good time."

"Sounds good," Takeru said. "Alright, uh...I'm gonna go try to find your father, I want to talk to him for a minute."

As Takeru took a few steps towards one of the hallways deeper into the house, Daisy turned around, looking at Hikari. "Just stay near us," she whispered. "If you're a little nervous I don't blame you."

"H-hey, so..." Vincent went up next to Ken, leading the trio over towards another hallway. "I like to ask this question whenever I get time with a pro, I just want your take, what's...how do you feel about physical and verbal tells?"

OOO

~Takeru~

Michael Gandolfini was only an imposing figure if you understood who he was. To meet him, he seemed about as average and ordinary as his name. He wasn't even that tall or large. If anything, this only enhanced the aura around him, making him all the more intimidating. Nevertheless, Takeru carried himself like someone who had nothing to fear, as he almost certainly had nothing to fear.

"I know it's a strange request, but...my son, he...he just found your world series success to be fascinating. I think he feels some sort of connection because of your similar ages, he...almost a vicarious sort of thing." Michael guided Takeru into a small room, revealing it to be a simple office, with a desk on the far side and shelves of books and folders on either side. "Your success makes him think that it could be him one day who has a run of success like that."

"Maybe so," Takeru replied, stepping into the room. "Your son seems like a nice guy, I...I have no problem coming out to make his day."

"For all that he frustrates me, I...I want to give him the things that he wants, I want to make him happy, despite everything he's still my son." Michael closed the door behind the two.

"I was going to be in town anyway," Takeru said. "Would have been rude for me to turn you down."

Michael was, appropriately, an older version of Vincent, with the same facial structure and hairstyle.

"Say, uh...not sure if you know this, Takeru, but I'm actually a large stakeholder in Poker Hub," Michael continued, walking over towards the desk. "I'm only a casual fan of the game, but I have a vested interest in Poker Hub, one of my many investments." He took his seat behind the desk. "I'm aware that you've been offered a sponsorship with Poker Hub, and I gotta say...someone like you, that would be great for those guys." He smiled. "Every eye in the world is on you right now, if you were wearing Poker Hub logos, I...I think it'd be good for me."

"Well, I'm still reviewing the offers," Takeru answered, standing up straight. "I've got multiple sponsorship offers, I'm taking time to consider them all. It's certainly possible. I'm just trying to get the best deal for me."

"Oh, hey, don't let me get inbetween you and finding the best deal," Michael insisted. "My whole life has been about finding the best deal, just...I'm hoping you and Raymond Paxson can come to an understanding. Paxson's one of my personal friends, actually, does a great job running Poker Hub." He looked over towards the right. "So, anyway, you wanted to ask me something?"

Takeru nodded. "Yes, I...it has to do with The Mecca, sir," Takeru said.

"Hm," Michael responded. "Strikes me as something your father should come to me about then." He leaned back in his large, cushioned chair. "Is he really using his son as a messenger for business?"

"I'm actually very familiar with the day-to-day workings at The Mecca," Takeru explained. "He's grooming me to replace him as owner and manager one day, and I frequently involve myself in the dealings with the business."

"Still," Michael gave a small little laugh.

"I just thought I'd inquire about this while I'm in the area," Takeru continued. "As someone who's familiar with the workings of The Mecca, I'm also aware of the arrangement that you and him have."

Michael rolled his eyes, glancing up at the ceiling. "Your father seems to have a loose definition of strictly confidential," he grumbled.

"I found out on my own when the count sheets kept being off," Takeru explained. "He had to tell me."

"Alright." Michael put his hands out towards Takeru. "So, what, you have questions about it that he can't answer?"

"I know what you did for my father, and I know what my father is now doing for you," Takeru said. "I'm here to make you an offer. A one-time payment that will end your continued investment in The Mecca."

Michael took in a deep breath, tapping his fingers on the desk for a moment. "You know, I can take or leave your father on a personal level, but he's a phenomenal casino manager," Michael said. "I believe the best in the world. The 'investment' I have with The Mecca is one of the best ones that I have, you have to understand that. The payments we receive have grown at an incredible rate, and we have every reason to believe they will continue to grow. It's an investment that I'm very happy to have, and that I value very highly."

"I understand," Takeru said. "That being said, I'm prepared to offer you a lump sum payment worth dozens of monthly payment, which is guaranteed, and can be yours tomorrow."

"I've never once involved myself in the affairs of The Mecca," Michael said, putting his hands out to his sides. "Not once in over ten years, I have always allowed Hiroaki to run things the way he wanted to run things. I don't even have a representative working there, he has absolute authority, I've never intruded on that. Why would he want me out?"

"Believe me, my father appreciates the total freedom you've allowed him," Takeru insisted. "This is simply a matter of us wanting to get a full stake in the company moving forward." He relaxed his posture ever so slightly. "We're prepared to offer you a quarter billion dollars in exchange for ending the continued payments. That's nearly twenty months worth of payments as they are now."

"I'm a patient man," Michael insisted. "Why would I sell my stake when I can just wait less than two years and have made the same money and still have the same stake?" He swallowed. "I like you, son, understand that, personally, I think you're a good kid. And I appreciate your father, despite us not being very close personally." He motioned towards Takeru. "I like to make deals with people, I like to make people happy, but I'll say this, I'm not the only person with a say in this matter. I have business partners who are part of the arrangement I have with your father as well. And I assure you, I can not go to my partners with a number like two hundred and fifty million dollars and expect to hold their attention for even a few seconds. Not when they all know how much the investment is worth."

Takeru thought for a moment. "Consider the value of a sure thing," Takeru suggested. "A casino's success is not entirely stable and dependable. If the economy flails, casino trips are one of the first things that people eliminate. Vacations are cancelled, how much of our income depends on tourists?"

Michael grimaced. "After these last...ten plus years of success, I have no reason to believe that there is anything but success in the future of The Mecca," he maintained. "Do you...do you have any inside information about the future?"

"No inside information," Takeru said. "Just pointing out that the investment has the potential to not be nearly as attractive based off of things that are out of our control. Three hundred and fifty million dollars, we can offer that. That's a lot of money going to you, all at once, with no fear of things going bad in the future one way or another."

"I'll take that chance," Michael said. "The Mecca has had the ability to survive all fluctuations of the state of the world over the last decade. Three hundred and fifty million, we're taking small steps forward here, we're a long way off for me to even think about it."

"Let's consider the other dangers," Takeru suggested. "Legal issues. The payments we make to you are not taxed, I know that. I don't have a problem with that morally, I think it's one of the benefits of such an arrangement that it can be gotten under the noses of the authorities. But it's an ongoing danger, every time your man comes by our count room to fill his suitcase. If anything about these payments got out, it'd be bad for both of us."

Michael crossed his right leg over his leg. "We've been doing this for many years now, we've become very good at it. There is minimal danger of being caught, if any at all. That's a risk I'm willing to take, if it's a risk at all." He shrugged. "Nothing you've presented to me is anywhere close to a good enough to case to sway me, or any of my four partners. I'm sorry, son."

"Half a billion," Takeru finally said, ignoring the sweat beginning to pool under his arms. "More than three and a half years worth of payments, all in a day, with no worries about anything going forward."

Michael steepled his hands in front of him for a moment, eyes downcast. "One point two billion," he said suddenly, looking back up. "That'll at least get the conversation going, that's the best I can say." He blinked a few times. "And I should tell you that in order to get through my partners, I suspect the number will end up being one and a half billion. That's the best offer you're going to get."

Takeru swallowed down hard, breaking eye contact for a moment as he glanced to his right. "Mister Galdolfini, thank you for seeing me today. I'll spend some more time at your son's party, thank you for inviting me into your house. I don't believe we'll be able to make a deal today."

Michael nodded. "I can respect a man who knows when to walk away from a deal with some dignity and honor. Too many people these days, they press you and press you until you get irritated." He stood back up. "Barring you coming up with the billion and a half, I'd appreciate not hearing about this again." He went around the desk and extended his hand out towards Takeru. "I like you, son. I'd like to keep it that way." His expression became much more stoic as he glared at Takeru, emphasizing the seriousness of this last sentence.

"Thank you for hearing me out," Takeru said, shaking his hand and then turning around, a little shaken.

"And go easy on Vincent at the felt!" Michael added. "He's just a kid who likes to throw money around!"

OOO

~Hikari~

"A lot of my game strategy is actually based off of metagame stuff," Vincent said. The group of four young adults were gathered at a small circular table, Ken, Daisy, and Hikari sampling various items from the buffet, a crowd of people gathering tightly around them. "You know, over at The Yuko, they have a no limit game, blinds are...ten and twenty, I just go there and I buy in for a hundred thousand dollars. And right away, people are like...whoa, you know? This guy, he's got some serious money to play with, he can really push the action, and right away, they're intimidated. You know, they're buying in for...some of them just buy in for five hundred, a thousand, and I just show up with all these chips."

"Yeah, I can...see how that would work," Ken said slowly. "It's scary to play against someone who can bust you in one hand."

"So often, I find I can just...blow people off hands," Vincent continued. "It's great, it's such a rush to be...check-raising, bluffing, firing multiple barrels, I love it, and it's pretty uncommon that my opponent has a hand they're willing to risk their whole stack on. Because they know that I'm going to keep betting, because I can afford it, and they just get out of the way."

"Sometimes you get caught," Daisy said quietly. "Expensive when you get caught. Really expensive when you get trapped."

"Sure, but whatever happens, it's just a really great thrill. And it feels great when you pull off a great play, you know?" He bobbed his head up and down a few times. "Sometimes someone buys in for ten thousand or something, and then you can really muscle them around, most people get scared when they get into a situation where they might drop ten grand on one hand."

"Most people, yeah," Daisy agreed.

Hikari swallowed down a particularly flavorful ball of meat, vaguely listening to the conversation. Though she wouldn't let her guard down for obvious reasons, she had to admit, Vincent Gandolfini seemed like a pretty decent person. It had been less than an hour, sure, but there was just something amicable about him. In fact, perhaps just because he was in the presence of people he liked and respected so much, his nervousness almost made him seem submissive and meek. It was very strange to know what was behind this family.

"Over time, you learn about your opponents too," Ken said. "You can make...opponent dependent decisions, and tie that into the board texture to decide when it's best to make a move and when it's best to give up."

"Uh, honestly, so many different people cycle through the tables at The Yuko, I...it's hard to learn anything about anyone." Vincent shrugged. "There's just such a thrill, to have a massive pot of chips in the middle of the table, and to be the one driving the action to make the pot so big, I just...whenever I think there's an opportunity, I'm probably in there."

Ken nodded. "Well, it's certainly a gameplan."

Takeru pushed his way through the thick crowd of people. "Hey guys," he said quickly, putting his hands down on the table surface.

"Oh, hey," Vincent said quickly, giving Takeru a wave. "I'm just talking cards with your friends, I...I love talking poker stuff with people who are better than I could ever be."

Takeru gave him a small smile. "Alright, uh...anybody you want to introduce me to?" He asked.

Vincent stood up from his chair. "Yeah, sure, a lot of people, I want to be the guy who gets to introduce Takeru Ishida to my friends, let's go around."

As Vincent turned away, Takeru quickly leaned in towards Ken. "No go, we'll talk later," he whispered. Hikari just barely heard it. "Alright, come on guys, let's meet some of these wonderful people!"

OOO

"Something just feels so...like, genuine about a shared living space," Daisy said, looking around the giant hotel suite, admiring the bright red primary color of the carpet and walls. Unlike Takeru's hotel room at The Horseshoe, which was large in a vertical sense, this room preferred to use it's impressive size horizontally, with a lot of floor space and a lot of doors in the walls leading to side rooms.

"I like this room a lot," Hikari mused. "It's a little more alive than the one at The Horseshoe."

Next to Daisy on the carpet was a line of luggage bags, each one fat and fully loaded. Daisy bent down towards one of them, unzipping the top of it.

"I don't know, four friends, all living together in the same suite, it just really reminds you how close we all are. No secrets between us, I...I like that." She put her hands on her hips, looking around. "I really like it."

Hikari nodded. "I agree." She looked over at Daisy. "Hey, uh...I never really came out and said it, but, congratulations about Takeru."

"Oh, thank you," Daisy said, turning to look at Hikari over her shoulder. "I'm really happy about it, I...it always made sense, but until it's actually locked in, you just don't know. He's never had any problem attracting women."

"I'm sure," Hikari said. "You're, uh, you and him go together really well, I'm...I can tell he's really happy about it. And what makes him happy makes me happy, so...congratulations."

"I was kind of nervous that night," Daisy said, stretching her arms up high above her head and bending her body to her left. "My God, all the practice he's had with so many different women over the last few years, so much experience, I thought he might just completely outpace me."

"Uh-huh," Hikari said absentmindedly.

Daisy gave a wistful little smile. "Sorry, I...I shouldn't exactly be talking about stuff like that." She wrinkled her nose. "Oh hell, he's probably talking about the same stuff with Ken right now."

The front door to the suite opened, Ken and Takeru entering, mid-conversation.

"I want to do an audio test with the bedrooms, by the way," Ken said, looking around the room, eyes quickly locating the various doors that led to the side rooms away from the main area. "Sooner the better."

"Can't you just trust the hotel staff?" Takeru replied. "They said the bedrooms were soundproofed."

"I'd like to see for myself," Ken insisted. "I'll judge soundproofing quality with my own ears."

"Why is that such a big deal?" Daisy asked, turning around to look at the two young men as they approached the middle of the room.

Ken rolled his eyes. "Because I have a feeling that I know what you two are going to be doing constantly, and if it interferes with my ability to sleep at night, I'm going to be beyond furious."

Daisy motioned towards the two, looking at Hikari. "See? I told you, I knew what they were talking about."

"Don't worry, buddy, the feeling is mutual," Takeru insisted, shrugging his suit jacket off his shoulders. "I don't want you wacking off to the sounds, believe me, I want those rooms to be soundproofed just as much as you."

Ken gave a hiccuping little laugh. "Yeah, you really have to worry about that, I'm really deprived on action," Ken said dryly. "Yeah, I don't get anything at home, I've got to get really creative to get my rocks off."

"Alright, alright," Takeru said, folding up his jacket and putting it on the backrest of a chair around the dining table. "So, I do have some good news," Takeru began. "Michael was nice and reasonable during our conversation, and never once got mad."

"Hey, there you go, silver linings," Ken said.

"He didn't even reject the thought outright," Takeru continued. "He said there WAS a number." He bobbed his head up and down a few times. "Of course, the number was ridiculous, beyond anything we could even hope to approach...and I'm pretty sure he *will* start to get irritated if I bring the issue back up to him. So there's that."

"Hey, that was pretty much my best-case scenario when you were going in," Daisy admitted, shrugging, going over to one of the chairs around the dining table and taking a seat. "I considered anything that didn't involve us leaving with broken bones a success."

"Look, baby doll," Takeru said, putting his hand on the backrest of the chair he had just put his jacket on. "Michael Galdolfini might be a ruthless, immoral, sociopathic criminal with a immense empire built on sin, but..." Takeru sucked in his lip for a second, face scrunching up a bit. "I...I had a point somewhere in there, I swear, but...I don't think it'll come out so well now."

Daisy rolled her eyes. "You think?"

"He's pragmatic," Takeru settled on. "He's not some psycho who just wants to hurt people."

"Wait, baby doll?" Ken repeated, raising an eyebrow over at Takeru. "That's what you're going with?"

"Yeah, you got a problem?" Takeru said. "Anyway, Daisy, sorry if you were...scared in there, but we were fine."

"It's a testament to the years of acting and modeling classes I've taken that I was able to be so composed at that party," Daisy continued. "I'll tell you though...that Vincent kid, pretty far from the tree, right?"

"I was thinking that too," Ken agreed. "Maybe he was just geeked out about getting to meet us, but...he almost seemed like a bit of a goofball."

"There's actually credible reason to believe that Vincent isn't quite the archetypical heir of a criminal empire," Takeru said. "After today, I...agree with those rumors." Takeru grimaced. "Almost seems like a nice guy. Maybe he is."

"Just to review things really quick before we proceed, because...I think it's good to do that every now and then." Ken cleared his throat, going over to the table. "You're a criminally successful professional poker player who just made fifteen million dollars in two months at his first ever world series. The world is your oyster, you can get into any game you want, you have the opportunity to make millions more before you even turn twenty-one. You have a very wealthy father who runs a very successful business, giving you freedom to really push things at high stakes without the fear of going broke. You've made a good, honest effort to take care of this problem, it didn't work. It'd be very reasonable for you to hit the eject button. You could tour the world, playing in all the biggest games, with your beautiful new girlfriend, enjoying the finest things in life as rich people do. It would be completely reasonable for you to do that, and leave it to your father to find a way out of the situation that he, and only he, got into. We still have a chance to do that, but we should do it now, before we begin to...for lack of a better term, take on The Bosses."

Takeru nodded, taking a seat at the table. "You make it sound so good."

"I understand that you feel like you need to do something about this, I'm not saying that's wrong, but...there is another option," Ken continued. "Because I'll tell you right now, I don't really know what we can even do here. This might be orders of magnitude bigger than us."

Takeru leaned back in his chair, stretching, looking up towards the ceiling. "If anyone in here feels any discomfort with me moving forward with attempting to end The Mecca's arrangement with The Bosses, I completely understand, and I encourage you to distance yourself from me while I'm working on it." He looked back over at Ken. "But I feel I need to do it. I really feel like this situation is a ticking time bomb, and there's nobody I can go to. Eventually, someone's going to find out about this and everything blows up, or...The Bosses are going to scapegoat my dad to save themselves, something. I know it feels like I have a choice, but I kind of don't. But nobody here is obligated to involve themselves."

"I said I'd help you," Ken insisted. "I'm not going to break my word." He smirked. "But I think it's a bad choice by me. But I'm okay with making a bad choice every now and then, it's my right to make bad choices sometimes. I'm entitled to it."

Daisy puffed out a large breath, but then nodded. "I know we're not married yet, but...I think the part of the vows a couple takes involves something about for better or for worse." She gave a thin smile. "If I can't handle you when you're...trying to take on organized crime, then I don't deserve you when you're...winning bracelets and stacking mad cheddar and being awesome."

"Mad cheddar, very good," Takeru said sarcastically. "Appealing to...a different demographic, I like it." He looked over at Hikari. "That goes for you too, by the way. Say the word, you can go back to The Mecca. Go back to working with The Angels, or whatever else you want. I want you here for obvious reasons, but...I won't make you stay if you don't like this."

"You kidding me?" Hikari said, raising an eyebrow. "You're gonna need me right now more than ever before, I'm not going anywhere."

"Alright then," Takeru said. "I've got good friends, wow. So, here's what I was thinking." He leaned forward onto the table as Hikari came up and took a seat across from him. "This Vincent kid, he might be the key. I don't have a great plan yet, but...this kid has to be at least somewhat involved in Michael's work. We don't know for sure, but he doesn't seem to be cut from the same cloth as his father. If nothing else, we might be able to get him to give us something we can use. An opportunity."

"We'll probably see a lot of him over the next week," Daisy said, looking down at the backs of her pale hands. "He's playing in the Super High Roller Bowl Cash Game. Three million dollars plus, I think he said?"

"We had an...interesting conversation with Vincent today," Ken added. "He seems to be one of those guys who lives to create action. Loves to bluff, loves to make moves, tries to intimidate and run people over. You know, easily bored kid with a lot of money, that sort of thing." He gave a small smile. "I might be playing against him this week, and he's sitting there, dumping his guts about how he plays, I'm just sitting there thinking about how much money I can take off this guy if I get in a good spot against him."

"Maybe he was leveling," Takeru suggested. "Maybe he's actually a diabolical genius, and made himself look like a goof to suck us in."

"I was thinking that," Ken admitted. "On the way home, I looked up some information online, Vincent's got quite the reputation down at The Yuko." He pursed his lips and nodded. "He does indeed spend a lot of time there, and his aggression numbers are through the roof. Lot of check-raising, lot of bluffing, lot of triple barrelling. High, high variance." He licked his lips. "Personally, I'm painting a target on the kid's back, I think I can get some serious cash off the guy."

"Yeah." Takeru nodded. "He's the kind of player who we'd all want to target anyway. He's never played in a game this big before, he's not going to know what hit him when he's up against elite competition with big bankrolls." Takeru looked around the table. "So I say...no collusion, nothing like that, but let's go after this guy hard. Isolate him, call him down, let him donk off his money to you, check your monsters over to him and let him blast off...all the old tricks when playing amateurs. He said he's bringing at least three million dollars to this game, I say...let's go after all of it. It's the right thing to do against a player like this, and if we can make it work...maybe we can open up some opportunities."

"Um, okay," Daisy said. "I can do that, I know how to work wealthy amateurs. I just hope your plan isn't...making this guy lose so much money at poker that he drives his father bankrupt and forces him to take your offer." Her eyes widened a touch. "That might be a little optimistic."

Takeru couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Wouldn't that be something? Look, I just want to push buttons until something happens." He shrugged. "Maybe get him into a situation where he owes us, or wants to be around us more, maybe he can tell us something useful, give us something we can work with. It's by far the best thing we have on the table for us, which...might be an indictment of of how I'm getting in way over my head, but it's something we'd be doing anyway, right?"

"Alright then," Ken said, standing up from the table. "So we're going to work on an overly-aggressive amateur, I could have stayed home and done that." He straightened up. "Now, let's give those rooms a test, I'm going to be *very* bitchy in the morning if you guys keep me up."

OOO

~Takeru~

A couple dozen people, of all shapes and sizes, ages and genders, creed and color, background and fashion, were gathered around a regulation green felt poker table. Takeru looked around at the arrangement of characters, enjoying the makeup of the group. He knew all of them from other big time poker games that he had seen in the past. Some had been around for decades, others had made their name only in the last few years. He appreciated the value in being among this elite group, and not just watching them from afar, hoping that he'd one day join them.

A few feet away from the group, a man in a rather gaudy red suit was standing, waving his arms towards himself to draw attention towards himself.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, thank you for coming out here today," he began. "I'm the manager of the poker room here at The Yuko, my name is Tim Raines, and welcome to the fifth biannual Super High Roller Bowl Cash Game. It's an honor to have players of such great backgrounds in this room together, it's only a very special event that can bring this sort of star power together. I'll go over the rules one last time before we get the cards in the air."

Takeru could feel his nerves begin to rise ever-so-slightly, as he glanced around again to look at the elite competition he'd be up against.

"The Super High Roller Bowl Cash Game is a five-day event, ten hours of play per day. As the name implies, it is a cash game. Every player must buy in for a minimum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, with the option to rebuy as many times as they would like, for any amount greater than one hundred thousand dollars. Blind structure is six hundred and twelve hundred dollars, with a two hundred dollar ante. Straddling is optional, but allowed. Running out boards multiple times is allowed. Table talk of all kinds is allowed. Making deals and sidebets is allowed. Collusion is prohibited. Player abuse is prohibited. Each player will be responsible for tipping their dealers."

Takeru fought not to roll his eyes, as Tim ran through facts that were well-known to everyone there.

"Brown chips are worth five dollars, these are for players to use to tip dealers, and are not allowed in pots. White chips are one hundred, green chips are five hundred, red chips are one thousand, black chips are five thousand, blue chips are ten thousand, and the red, white, and blue chips are twenty-five thousand. Cash does not play, players are not allowed to play behind. We will have three full tables of nine players each, with seats being rotated every day. If a player wishes to leave the game, we have a list of alternates who can enter to fill seats. Players are required to show their hole cards to the hole cameras for the purposes of our broadcast." He looked around at everyone. "Alright, good luck to everyone, everyone take your assigned seats, and get ready for one of the biggest cash games in the world. With that, let's shuffle up and deal!" 


	32. Fishing

Chapter 32: Fishing

"When was the last time you saw six and a half MILLION dollars on a table? That's what we've got here today at the Poker Den Super High Roller Bowl Cash Game! You won't find bigger stakes anywhere else in the world!"

The nine players took their seats around the green felt table, observing as men in suits brought out large carts bearing racks of chips.

"Good morning everyone, we're here on this fine monday, ready to start one of the biggest cash games on the planet. This is table number two, we have three total tables running, and what a lineup we've got here today! I have no idea what's going to happen here, but it will involve millions of dollars changing hands, so stick around and watch it play out."

The players began to converse amongst each other as the chips were distributed out from the carts.

"In seat number one, we've got former actress turned professional poker player Jennifer Hill. She's a frequent participant in High Roller cash games, has a handful of Sienna Poker Tour cashes, and has a world series bracelet from two years ago. She's buying in for five hundred thousand dollars. Seat number two, we've got John Volpe, a professional player with a successful career that includes cashes at the world series, Sienna Poker Tour, and the Panok Circuit, and he's also got half a million in front of him. Seat three, best known for his music producing company Hard Beats, amateur player Matthew Walsh, he's got a full million in chips."

The dealer began to scramble out a deck of fifty-two cards on the felt.

"Seat four, we've got the man widely considered to be the greatest all-around poker player alive, a man who needs no introduction, Perry Iverson. Twelve world series bracelets, three straight wins at the Panok Two hundred and fifty thousand dollar Super High Roller event, and countless other achievements, he's bought in for a million dollars. Seat five, the kid on fire, coming off a record-breaking world series that included four bracelets and well over thirty million in cashes, Takeru Ishida sits with a million in chips. Seat six, only the immortal Godfather of poker, ten world series bracelets, including two main event bracelets, known as the man who practically wrote the book on poker, Don Brown, with seven hundred and fifty grand."

With the deck all put back together, the dealer looked around the table, talking to the players in front of her.

"Rounding out this group of powerhouses, we've got seat seven, Yusef Kovalov, billionaire businessman and amateur high stakes cash player, with a million in chips. Seat eight, another young face, and a very pretty one at that, Daisy Scott, coming off her first world series that included one final table and five cashes, she sits down with half a million. And seat nine, son of the shipping magnate Michael Gandolfini, we've got Vincent Gandolfini, a frequent player here at The Yuko, starting with seven hundred and fifty grand."

"Yeah, what a great field of players here, this is going to really be fascinating. We've got players young and old, professionals and amateurs, and we are incredibly deep. The minimum buyin was a quarter million to get in, but everyone here popped for at least half a million, which means even the short stacks have four hundred and seventeen big blinds. That means these players are going to play a lot of hands, and we could see some truly massive pots."

The dealer, after getting each player to put out a few chips past the yellow line in front of them, began to deal out the cards.

"Blinds are six hundred and twelve hundred, antes are two hundred, meaning each pot is three thousand six hundred dollars by default. So, the amount of money the average family might spend on an entire vacation is being put into every pot before anybody even does anything. And we are now underway, cards are in the air. Perry Iverson opens up with a fold, Takeru Ishida folds, and looks like Don Brown might be contemplating the first open of the day."

OOO

"You know, eight to ten years ago, Jennifer Hill was considered sort of...the joke of the poker world, a lot of people didn't have much respect for her, they thought she was a bad player, but...I'll tell you, she has improved dramatically over the last decade."

"Being married to Charlie Crowe, a professional poker player in his own right, probably helped a lot. But yeah, she can definitely hack it at the table, even against a field like this. They're not just giving out those bracelets for having a pretty face."

Perry Iverson looked down at the four of hearts and deuce of spades.

"Perry Iverson is on the button, he's got complete rags, but...that might not be a problem for him. Nobody has opened the pot yet, not a bad time for him to try to take it down."

Iverson threw out four red chips.

"He bumps it to four thousand, and...nobody is going to believe he has a good hand, obviously, but we'll see what the blinds wake up with, it might not matter if they don't have anything."

Takeru looked down at his cards. Ace of hearts, ace of diamonds.

"Something tells me that Iverson's steal attempt is going to work out for him, Takeru's got the two red aces in front of him! How does he want to proceed?"

"Well, if he raises, obviously Perry Iverson will be folding, though Takeru can't know that. If he wants to keep Perry on the hook, he should just call. Of course, calling will probably price Don in, and playing aces three-way isn't always ideal."

Takeru took back his green chip and white chip, putting in four red ones.

"He just calls. And I like it, it's going to be hard to put him on aces later in the hand if you're Iverson, could get Takeru a bigger pot. It's a risk, but I like the play."

Don Brown, with wrinkled fingers, looked down at the jack of spades and nine of spades.

"Suited jack nine for the Godfather, he's going to call out of the big blind I'm sure, and there he goes with calling chips. Three to the flop, Takeru way in the lead with aces. Iverson wishing he could have his chips back after getting two callers. Nearly fourteen thousand dollars in the pot."

The dealer put down a flop. Three of spades, eight of clubs, seven of hearts.

"Safe flop for Takeru's aces, he's now an even bigger favorite. Don Brown does have a gutshot straight draw, needs a ten to make a straight, also has backdoor spades."

Takeru thought for a moment, hand up to his mouth, and then he checked.

"Backdoor straight draw for Iverson, that's about it for him. If it checks over to him, I think he has to fire out a continuation bet, and it's not going to end well for him."

Don Brown, however, gathered up a blue chip and three red chips, firing them forward.

"Bet of thirteen thousand from Don, semi-bluffing with the gutshot and two overcards. Nick, most of our viewers probably just got done watching the world series, so we've got this cash game here, what changes can we expect?"

"Well, I think the biggest difference is players will play more hands. Especially when everyone is this deep, a lot more hands become profitable to play."

Iverson folded his cards over to the dealer.

"In a tournament, chips are so valuable because you can't get more when you run out, so you have to play knowing that, but cash games...you can always get more money, so the prospect of getting paid off when you hit a hand is that much more appetizing. In a tournament, if you get a hand like...six five offsuit, and it's a multiway pot, that's probably a fold, but in a cash game this deep, that's a hand you want to call with and see if you can make your hand, because when you do, you have the potential to make so much money. So players will play many more hands."

Takeru grabbed four blue chips from his stack, putting them out.

"Takeru check-raises to forty grand, he's going to spring his little trap, announce the strength of his hand. And boy, have I been looking forward to this clash. Old school versus new school right here, never has that battle been better represented. The icon of poker versus the twenty-year-old prodigy!"

"The other thing is bet sizing, it tends to be much bigger in cash games. Most of the time, you will see players bet...at least two thirds the pot when they bet, up to the full amount of the pot, sometimes a little over. That does happen sometimes in tournaments, but not nearly as much. In a cash game, you have to bet larger amounts for the bets to be effective."

Don Brown, a wide-brimmed hat atop his head, took his time in contemplating his move.

"Man, Takeru Ishida...talk about a run for the ages. Twenty years old, shows up to his first world series, wins four bracelets, breaks most of the single year world series records, it's really incredible."

"Yeah, it really is, and...this is his first ever high stakes televised cash game, we know he can hang in tournaments, but cash games are different. And it's gonna be very interesting to see how he does, there are many players who excel in one format and struggle in another. To make this particular game his first stop is very bold, and buying in for one million dollars is even bolder."

Don Brown grabbed four red white and blue chips along with two blue ones, sweeping back his initial bet and putting the large amount of chips in front of his cards.

"And...Don Brown doesn't appreciate getting check-raised by the young gun, he three-bets it up to one hundred and twenty thousand! I don't think Takeru expected that!"

Takeru glared at Don out of the corner of his eyes as he kept his hand over his mouth, his right hand shuffling chips.

"And...Takeru looks a little shaken by that, he might be regretting that check-raise right now. He has to be thinking that he might be up against a set, maybe...maybe eight seven, and he might be stepping into some serious danger pretty early on in the day. Great play by Don, he's given himself an opportunity to win this pot without making his hand."

"I don't think Takeru is folding now, he's too under-represented to throw this away, but he's not exactly loving life right now. And he really could fold on some turns and some rivers, I think."

Takeru put out eight blue chips alongside his initial four.

"There's the call. Already a quarter million dollars in this pot, now THIS is what we wanted to happen when we got this group of players together."

The dealer, with a couple pounds to the felt, turned over the ace of clubs.

"Well, Takeru's certainly not folding on THAT turn, the ace of clubs gives Takeru top set and the nuts! Little bit of that world series magic spilling over here in The Yuko today."

Takeru slowly reached forward, tapping the felt a few times.

"Takeru will check, and he's now HOPING that Don has a set of eights. If he does, he's certainly betting here, and Takeru should be able to pick off his entire stack of nearly three quarters of a million. It's actually set up pretty well for Don to check behind and take a free card, that's part of the reason why re-raising the flop is good. This is the beauty of playing in position."

Don tapped his fingers on the felt a few times.

"Brown is drawing live here, he needs a ten to make his straight. If he hits the ten on this river, he could extract some very serious value from Takeru, maybe even get a full double up."

The dealer put down the four of spades to complete the board.

"No ten for Don, he's stuck with jack high, Takeru's set of aces is best."

"Yes it is, but six five just got there, and the way this hand played out, Don Brown could definitely have six five. So Takeru has to love his hand, but he does need to tread a little lightly."

Takeru reached forward and tapped the felt a few times with his knuckles.

"And that's a great check. Most people watching are wondering how he can check top set twice, but...I think Takeru has realized that Don Brown either has five six for the nuts, or has nothing, so this check is actually the most profitable move. If Don has the straight, then obviously he's going to bet, and you'll probably have to call and lose, but at least then the damage is minimized. And if he has nothing, then he's obviously folding to any bet, so now Takeru has given him the chance to bluff."

Don Brown began to reach around his stack to get chips together.

"Those multi-colored chips are worth twenty-five grand each, about the price of a mid-level sedan. Don knows his jack high isn't the best hand, so his only hope is a river bluff that is doomed to be called."

Brown put out six of the colorful chips.

"One hundred and fifty thousand dollars from Don Brown!"

Takeru's brow furrowed as he studied the elder statesman of poker out of the corner of his eyes.

"And this is where buying in for such a large amount becomes a little dangerous. It's certainly a calculated risk, but...let's say Takeru had bought in for a quarter million to start. This bet would put him all-in, and it's an easy call, and whatever happens happens, you win it's great, you lose you're down a quarter million. But because Takeru has so much money in front of him right now, it's not quite so obvious. He can still call, but...he has to be wondering if he can raise here to try to get value out of a set of eights or set of sevens. But then he's aware that, if Don Brown has six five, he'll re-raise, probably all-in, and then what do you do? And if you did happen to raise into six five, that's seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars gone in one hand."

Takeru rubbed his knuckles against his lips, still looking over at Don. Finally, he tossed a handful of multi-colored chips out into the pot.

"Can you beat jack high?" Don said, turning over his cards.

Takeru's body seemed to relax a bit, and he quickly flipped up top set.

"Yeah, that's a...pretty good hand there," Don said.

"The bad news for Don is that his net worth just took a hit. The good news is it was probably around point four percent of his net worth, so he'll be alright."

"Great move by Takeru, he...he correctly read that Brown was very unlikely to have a set the way the hand played out, and he either had the nuts or nothing. He got value by turning his hand into a sort of bluff-catcher. A lot of people would have done things very differently with that hand. And Takeru picks up a pot of over five hundred and fifty thousand dollars, that's what we call making a big first impression in your first ever high stakes cash game."

OOO

"Well, I suppose it helps when your father is the owner and manager of The Mecca."

Yusef raked in a small pot of chips.

"Sure, but...Takeru has said before that this poker thing is something he's done all on his own, which is something he prides himself on. He doesn't want to lean on his father for bankroll, he wants to build his career himself. I remember some of the interviews he gave at the world series. So buying into a cash game for a million dollars, putting yourself in a position where you could lose a million dollars on one hand, is very risky. Let's remember, after he took care of his backers for One Drop, Takeru's profit from the world series was around...fourteen, fifteen million, and before that he was an amateur player, so...if his total bankroll right now is around seventeen or eighteen million, he really is kind of sticking his neck out here. Make a couple mistakes, hit a couple coolers, and that money can disappear fast."

John Volpe tossed three red chips and a green chip out after looking down at the ace of diamonds and jack of spades.

"Here comes John Volpe with the ace jack offsuit, thirty-five hundred from John. Matthew Walsh next to act, he's got...four deuce of hearts."

"See, this is the kind of hand that, in a tournament, you'd get rid of, but...I mean, I would still probably toss it, but it's not completely ridiculous to try to take a flop and get lucky."

Walsh tossed in the four chips to call. Iverson had a glance at king nine of spades, then reaching over to take some calling chips.

"Iverson's in with the king nine suited...Takeru's got jack nine suited, with this much action already in the pot I think he's easily priced in."

Takeru grabbed the required chips and tossed them into the pot. After this, Brown, Kovalov, Daisy, and Vincent got rid of their cards, leading to Jennifer having a look down at the queen and ten of hearts.

"Suited queen ten from the big blind for Jennifer Hill. She needs twenty three hundred more to call and enter a pot of fourteen thousand dollars, no way she can turn that price down."

"Alright...boys," Jennifer said, playing with her chips for a moment. "Let's make it...seventeen thousand." She took back her big blinds and put in three black chips and two red chips.

"And here comes Jennifer Hill with the squeeze play, she raises to seventeen grand! A squeeze is when you don't have a great hand, and there are a lot of players in the hand, and you make a big raise to try to take down the pot, because raising here does represent extreme strength. Queen ten suited is a pretty good hand, but it's not a premium hand, and playing it out of position against four players isn't great, so...I like this play from Jennifer, it could definitely take down the pot right here. Nobody has a great hand."

Volpe considered his cards for a moment, and then fired them over to the dealer.

"Volpe folds, he had the best hand with ace high, so that's one player out of the way. And Walsh has mucked his four deuce."

Iverson looked back down at his suited king nine for a moment.

"That raise from Jennifer is designed to scare everyone at the table, but...here's a guy who's never scared of anything, Perry Iverson. His hand has potential to flop well, he's had a bit of a slow start to the day...looks like he's thinking about making a call."

Iverson fired out a handful of chips.

"He's in there, and now...Takeru's got the suited jack nine."

Takeru reached over to take a sip out of a bottle of water. "This is probably a bad idea. But sometimes the best things come of bad ideas."

"Everyone told me that it was a bad idea when I quit acting to start playing poker," Jennifer said, pointing over at Takeru. "And look at me now."

"Yeah, it's...probably a bad idea, but Takeru is getting great pot odds and he's in position. He's dominated in more ways than one here, but I don't think he can resist seeing a flop. He's up about three hundred thousand so far today, so that might embolden him."

Takeru put in the chips. "Alright, let's go for it."

"Three to the flop. Fifty-seven thousand dollars in the pot already, we've got another big one brewing."

With a burn card to the side, the dealer revealed the seven of spades, eight of hearts, and ten of spades.

"And there's a flop! Something for everyone!"

Jennifer looked down at the cards for a moment, then started rifling chips.

"So...top pair for Jennifer Hill, an open-ended straight draw and king high flush draw for Perry Iverson, and Takeru with the absolute nuts right now, the jack high straight!"

"Sometimes, you're just running good, and...Takeru is running good right now. Although he's still only fifty percent to win this hand, there's a lot of opportunities for him to be outdrawn."

Jennifer put together a small stack of chips, three blues and one black, putting it out in front of her.

"I think Jennifer has both options open to her here, after hitting top pair, checking is fine, but betting is alright too, it allows her to get a better sense of where she is. This is a super wet flop, so betting top pair gives you a chance to figure out where you're at."

Iverson watched the four chips go out.

"Easy call for Perry. He could even raise, he's got so many different ways to make his hand. And neither of these players yet realize that Takeru is just sitting there with the nuts, so Iverson might just plan on getting all of chips in here."

Slowly, Iverson put together a stack of chips, same as Jennifer's, toppling it forward into the pot.

"There's the call, and Takeru absolutely can't call here. He's more than good enough to realize that one of these two is drawing, and he needs to charge those draws. Mandatory raise. Any spade is a bad card, if the board pairs it's bad, a nine or jack kills his action...he has to push it now while he has the nuts."

Takeru, right hand moving his chips around as his left hand covered his mouth, got out four of his multi-colored chips, adding a pair of blue chips atop the stack, putting them out.

"And there's the raise from Takeru, one hundred and twenty thousand. And we're going to have another massive pot right here, and Takeru yet again has a leg up. What a start to this game for him, he already took a massive pot off of Don, now he has Iverson in his sights."

Jennifer, considering the board for a moment, looked back down at her cards.

"I think a lot of amateur players would call here. Jennifer has already put a lot of money into this pot, she has top pair, but...I suspect she's going to get out now. Ten years ago, she would have made this call and been in a bad spot on the turn, but...this has just gotten a little too expensive for her."

Jennifer slid the cards over towards the dealer.

"Very nice laydown from Jennifer, that's a professional laydown. Now I know one guy who's not going anywhere."

Perry spied Takeru's chipstack from the corner of his eyes.

"And Perry might even consider a raise here, he's just got such a monster draw."

"Yeah, he could, but...a player with the incredible savvy of Perry Iverson realizes that, if he raises, the hands that he's getting action from are the hands he's behind. Obviously, he's not in terrible shape against any hand with such a strong combo draw, but he'd still be behind. And Perry wants to avoid those kinds of scenarios. He's not interested in getting nine hundred thousand dollars in the middle in a situation where he's behind. That's not how he does things."

Perry put out four multi-colored chips, the dealer tossing him back a blue one.

"And Iverson makes the call. Three hundred and thirty-one thousand in the center of the table, big spot."

After gathering the chips in the middle, the dealer burned and turned the king of hearts.

"That makes things even more interesting! Turn card gives Perry Iverson top pair, and it gives Takeru Ishida a flush draw!"

Perry took several long seconds to consider this turn card.

"Yes, it definitely makes things more interesting, but...really, it doesn't change much. And both players might be aware of that. For Perry, that king only changes things for him if Takeru flopped two pair, ten eight or eight seven or something, and I think Perry at least suspects he's up against a set or a straight. And Takeru, well, he still has the nuts, and if a third heart comes, he won't have the nuts, so he'd actually prefer to not make his flush."

Iverson checked, tapping the felt a few times.

"Takeru's got to bet this. Half the deck is bad for him on the river, although a heart wouldn't be terrible or anything, he'd prefer it to brick out and leave him with the nut straight. And if it does brick out, then Perry isn't calling a bet on the river, so now is the time for value."

Takeru went to his stack of multi-colored chip, cut it in half, and left stack went forward into the pot.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand dollar bet from Takeru, about seventy-five percent of the pot. This is a great bet, it's going to be sorely tempting for Perry to chase his hand on the river, but statistically he shouldn't."

Perry considered the bet as the dealer counted it out.

"And the wheels are turning in Perry's head. He's been in every situation before, what's he gonna do in this situation? How many of his outs are good? What does he do if he makes a hand? So many things to consider."

"I can't possibly imagine him folding, but...he might be one of two or three players in the world who can make this fold. Mathematically, he should fold, he's got twenty percent equity. Quite a few of his phantom outs are going to get him in a lot of trouble if he hits them. But can he say goodbye to a hand this strong?"

Perry stared down at the cards intently, working everything over in his mind.

"Top pair. Open-ended straight draw. King-high flush draw. All the people watching this coverage at home are wondering why he's taking so long to call."

"Well, he's not getting the right price to call against a straight or a set. If he's up against two pair, then it's a little different, but I think Perry is getting the sense that he's not up against two pair. He's got to put two hundred thousand and fifty dollars into a pot of five hundred and eighty-two thousand, so twenty percent equity is unprofitable."

Perry, looking a bit frustrated, looked up at the ceiling.

"The question is, if he makes his hand, can he get paid off? And I think he's thinking he might not. If he makes his flush on the river and suddenly bets out half a million dollars, it's going to be somewhat transparent to Takeru that Perry has made his flush, and he really might just fold. And that's a big problem for Perry if he can't capture river value."

Iverson looked back down at his hand.

"If the river card is a king, and Perry makes trip kings, that's probably still not good enough to make the best hand. And if it is, Takeru's never paying him off. If a six comes, and Perry makes the ten high straight, he's the one who will have to pay off a big river bet to Takeru, and he probably can't get paid off by a set. And if a jack comes, that's fine, but splitting the pot isn't a tremendous reward."

Finally, Perry slid his cards over to the dealer.

"Wow, that is...I know I just laid out all the reasons why you should fold, but...wow. That is an amazing fold. I mean, I can see the cards, Perry can't, and he...he somehow managed to realize everything that I knew from seeing the cards. Wow."

"What a monster laydown. That's why he's the best."

Takeru watched the large pot get pushed his direction.

"And, I'll say this. Takeru is having a great start to his day so far, he's up half a million dollars, but...when he watches that hand later, he's going to wonder how in the world did he not get a lot more. How did he not get at least one more street of value? Incredible stuff here."

OOO

~Takeru~

"This game is easy," Takeru said, ripping a large bite out of a thick sandwich. "What are you two waiting for? It's easy money out there."

"I'm gonna kick you right between the legs," Ken muttered. "I'm over on table one with 'Prodigious' to my left, he's got position on me all day, do you have any idea what that's like? Freaking torture chamber over there. Thank God they're shuffling seating."

The group of four were tightly gathered near a vacated poker table, as the room had broken for lunch.

"I'm sitting inbetween Perry Iverson and Don Brown, I don't wanna hear it," Takeru countered. "I've taken both of them to town already too."

"Oh, enough with the bluster," Daisy said, holding a plastic plate up underneath her face as she set down half of a meatball sandwich. "You flopped the nuts on both those hands and you know it."

"I resent that remark," Takeru said, giving off an air of faux snootiness. "I flopped the nuts against Iverson. I TURNED the nuts against Brown."

Daisy rolled her eyes. "You know what we could do to really make money? Start running a Takeru Ishida fantasy camp. People pay ten thousand dollars to live your life for two weeks. Go to the world series, run hotter than the sun, cruise into high stakes cash games, make the nuts every other hand, who wouldn't go for that?"

"You're going quite green, my dear," Takeru said, popping a couple grapes into his mouth. "It doesn't suit you."

"Oh, no, not at all," Daisy said, leaning in and giving him a peck on the cheek and a hug. "What's good for you is good for me," she added, sounding somewhat unconvincing.

"Now, you, on the other hand, that's something else," Takeru said, gesturing over at Ken. "You, I bask in your jealousy, bring it on."

"So, uh...anyway, any word on Operation Fishing Expedition?" Ken asked, scooping a spoonful of a thick soup into his mouth.

"He's been quiet," Takeru answered. "Been pretty tight so far. Almost as tight as Daisy. Nothing going yet."

"Hey, I'm feeling things out!" Daisy protested. "Don't worry, I've got...I've got big plans, I'm just taking it slow."

"I hope so," Takeru replied. "You play any tighter, they'll boot you out and call up Daniel Karns to take your seat." He took a sip from a bottle of water in his right hand. "I'm not worried though, players like Vincent, they always eventually give in to their impulses. He'll open up soon, we just have to be ready for it."

"Just hope I get to play him tomorrow," Ken said. "I need an easy mark, it's a hell of a table I'm on. Doug Martin and Ole Schneider have position on me too, it's brutal."

"Don't worry about it," Takeru said easily. "We've got plenty of time."

"Says the man who's up five hundred thousand dollars," Hikari remarked snidely.

"Very true," Takeru admitted with a grin. "Hey, nice work today by the way," he added, motioning towards her. "Flopping the nuts, turning the nuts, two massive pots, and we're only a few hours in, I don't know how you do it."

"I don't know how I do it either," Hikari said. "Just be careful out there, there's...a lot of potential to lose some pretty serious money." Her eyes went a little wide. "I thought the tournaments at the world series had a lot at stake."

OOO

"God damn, why did I...why did I bet the river?" Matthew Walsh mourned, looking to his left and right, spying the raise that had just been put out by Vincent. "How much more?"

"Forty thousand more to you," the dealer answered.

"Ugh." Walsh, looking a bit disgusted, picked his cards up and looked at them. "Check-call, check-call, easy check-call spot, I know it too!" He spun his cards over to the muck. "I know it, and I...I still do it!"

"Heh, Matthew Walsh berating himself for trying to get thin value on the river. He knows he opened himself up to get bluffed."

Vincent picked up one of his cards, showing the four of hearts to the table, but hid the other one as he sent it back over to the dealer.

"Four of hearts?" Takeru said, looking over at the exposed card. "I'm sure the other one was really good."

"I promise I didn't have four high," Vincent said as the dealer pushed the pot in his direction.

"Well, Vincent definitely didn't have four high, but he did have queen high, so...a bluff is a bluff."

"Yeah, I had the best hand," Matthew groaned, covering half his face with his right hand, giving Vincent a wry look. "Nice play, kid."

"You know, I don't really love Vincent showing his bluff. And I don't love Matthew telling everyone that he did get bluffed. It just...it has the potential to hurt you later on in the game. Vincent in particular has worked hard these first few hours to establish a tight playing style, playing only a few hands, so...showing a bluff at this point might undo a lot of that work."

"Vincent Gandolfini has a reputation for being a very aggressive, wild player. He hasn't really lived up to that so far today, that was his first big move of the day, and it worked."

The dealer began to whisk out new cards to each player.

"Hey, are we gonna put the straddle on? We all agreed?" Vincent said suddenly as he stacked his chips. "Straddle?"

"Yeah, let's go for it," Volpe replied. "Straddle, it's on you."

"The players have agreed to put the straddle on. So what's a straddle anyway, you ask?"

"Well, a straddle is sort of a third blind. In a typical poker hand, you have two blinds, small bind and big blind. But the player to the left of the big blind, or the player under the gun, can elect to put in a straddle, which can be thought of as sort of a...huge blind. He puts in double the amount of the big blind before the cards get dealt out, which grants him the ability to act last preflop instead of first."

Takeru, after seeing Vincent put out two red chips and four white chips to his right, looked down to find the jack of hearts and the jack of clubs.

"Takeru is first to act thanks to the straddle, and he's got pocket jacks! He'll certainly play this."

"Yeah, what the straddle does is it builds a much bigger pot, which will cause bigger bets down the line, which makes the stakes all the more higher. Before the straddle, if Takeru wanted to raise here, he could just make it four thousand, and we might end up with a pot of...sixteen thousand going to the flop, but now we'll probably see Takeru make it...seven thousand, which might make a pot of twenty-six thousand, and then things just compound from there. Great way to create some serious action."

Takeru tossed in a black chip, a red chip, and a green chip.

"There you go, Takeru raises to sixty-five hundred, so you were close."

Action proceeded around the oval, players looking down at their cards and folding.

"The early position raise from Takeru should get some respect, although he has been a bit loose today. Being up five hundred thousand seems to be making him brave. He said when he got here this morning that his goal over this next week was to make a strong impression in the world of high stakes cash games and to work on his bankroll."

Perry Iverson had a glance down at two nines in the big blind once action folded around to him.

"Perry's got a hand here, pocket nines. He's going to take a flop, there go some calling chips."

"Seems a little crazy, to come to this game to...work on your bankroll. Normally, I'd call that suicidally foolish, but Takeru is in a situation that we've never really seen before. He's a newly-christened professional player who just ran a buzzsaw through the world series of poker, so he's in this really odd position of feeling compelled to play in these big games without having a massive bankroll. So, I don't really know what he should do, but...so far, this is working out well for him."

Vincent had a glance down at his cards finally, showing a queen of spades and ten of hearts.

"Queen ten for Vincent, he's already got twenty-four hundred in this pot. I think he's gonna call."

"And we're starting to see the Vincent Gandolfini we expected to see, he's...he's playing more hands, he's being more aggressive, he's starting to bluff, and...this is why a player like him gets on television. Because he's entertaining to watch."

The dealer put out a flop. Two of hearts, two of clubs, eight of diamonds.

"Deuce deuce eight rainbow on the flop, that's a very dry flop. Good flop for Iverson's nines, but an even better flop for Takeru's jacks."

Perry flipped a black chip, three red chips, and a white chip forward.

"That's a donk bet from Perry Iverson of eight thousand one hundred, he wants to try to figure out where he is with his overpair. If he's up against ace king or ace queen or a hand like that, he wants to protect his nines. And if he's up against a bigger overpair, he should be hearing from Takeru when action gets around to him."

After a moment, Vincent grabbed a handful of chips from various stacks and put it forward.

"Not really a good flop for Vincent's queen ten, but he's calling anyway...I assume he has some kind of plan, he's got nothing but bare overcards."

"Sometimes, in smaller stake games, you will see players peel with two overcards on the flop, just because they do have potential to spike top pair on the turn, but...at stakes like this, with the amounts of money being thrown around, I would have preferred a fold from Vincent there. It's kind of the trademark amateur play to take one off with overcards here."

Takeru cut out a stack of three blue chips from one of his stacks, looking down at it.

"A lot of players would just call here, but...Takeru's thinking raise, and I really like it. I think he's putting Iverson on the exact kind of hand that he has, tens or nines, and he knows he can get value out of them, so he's going to push the action now."

Takeru put out the three chips.

"Takeru won't let Perry take the betting lead, that is a raise to thirty thousand."

Perry pursed his lips over at the raise, scratching the top of his head.

"Iverson's had a bit of a rough day so far, he's down a few hundred thousand, and...I don't think he's in the mood to let Takeru take this down right here. I think he's not quite a believer, and will make this call."

Perry took his bet back and replaced it with three blue chips.

"His hand is still a bit too strong to fold, perfectly reasonable call. Pot is ninety thousand, and I have to believe Vincent is going to get the picture here. He can't continue with two overcards."

Vincent shuffled his chips around for several seconds, looking over at the size of the pot.

"He might be painting a different picture here, looks like the wheels are turning. He is one of three players at this table who is playing in their first ever televised cash game, and...when you get into your first ever televised cash game, you want to do something to leave an impression so you can get invited later. Takeru is one of those three, and he's left an impression by winning a lot of big pots and making good hands, so Vincent...he might be thinking the best way to get invited to future high stakes cash games is to live up to his reputation as a maniac here on national television."

Vincent got out six blue chips, a black chip, and two red chips, pushing them out next to his initial eight thousand one hundred, taking back the white chip in the process.

"That is a re-raise...dealer is counting it out...Vincent has pushed the action to a total of seventy-five thousand, and that draws Takeru's attention!"

Takeru gave Vincent an intense lookover as the bet was announced by the dealer, fingers drumming on the edge of the table.

"I think it took Vincent a few hours to...adjust to the stakes of this game, he usually plays in games where people are buying in for a few thousand dollars at most, but this is the kind of stuff he's known for here at The Yuko. And I'll tell you, I actually kind of like it."

"Yeah, I think this must have been his plan all along. He was straddling this hand, so he's the player who's most likely to be here with a deuce, he's pretty sure Takeru and Perry don't have deuces in their range, so he's going to try to represent it. It makes some sense, and Takeru could be put in a difficult spot this hand."

Takeru reached forward and took all of his chips back, then took a moment to gather together seven blue chips and a black chip.

"He calls, which I think is probably correct. He's still getting a good price, and if he's aware of Vincent's reputation, which...I don't know if he is, then it's hard to throw away a hand this good just because he's betting."

Perry, with a shake of his head and a dry laugh, pushed his cards over to the dealer.

"Perry Iverson can't be happy with having to fold after putting thirty thousand in, but...he can tell that one of these two guys has him beat at the very least. He's got to get out now before he loses more money."

"Yeah, rough day for the guy who many consider the best in the world. That's how it goes from time to time."

The turn card, coming out after the burn, was the six of clubs.

"Six of clubs really changes nothing. Takeru has ninety-three percent equity in the hand, but Vincent really could take this away from him if he plays things right."

Vincent went to the red, white and blue chips behind his stack.

"Yeah, he's clearly planning a bet here, and...I like the way he's playing this, I think this makes sense, but he might have picked the wrong guy to try this against. I know Takeru Ishida is a twenty-year-old who just began making the professional rounds, but...clearly, this is a bright kid who really understands things and really knows how to figure things out. On the previous hand, Vincent targeted Matthew Walsh with a bluff, which I like more, since Walsh tends to play a more straightforward brand of poker and is an amateur, but...Takeru, coming off of four bracelets in two months, maybe not the right guy to try to bully."

"On the other hand, bluffing Takeru Ishida out of a big pot with queen high would be quite a story to tell his friends when he gets back home."

Vincent put out three of the multicolored chips along with a black one.

"Eighty thousand into a pot of nearly two hundred and two thousand. Vincent continues to tell the story that he has a deuce, or possibly pocket eights for a flopped full house."

"I actually don't like that bet either, it's...it's too small to be effective, I think. I know that Vincent wants to make it look like he has a deuce, so betting small makes it look like he wants to get called, but...I think this works much better if Vincent bets one hundred and fifty grand or so."

Takeru rubbed his fingers over his mouth, looking over at his opponent carefully.

"Seems like Takeru isn't convinced. Vincent is telling a pretty good story that he has trip deuces or eights full, so Takeru can't love this. But I don't think he's folding for this price."

Takeru flipped four chips past his cards, committing eighty thousand.

"There's an awful lot of money in the middle, and Vincent's sitting there with queen high and no draw. Needs a queen to take the lead."

The river card was the eight of clubs.

"Well, that's not exactly a blank. The river has double-paired the board, and it's also put a third club out there for a backdoor flush."

"I don't think either of these players is worried about the other having clubs in their hand, it would be...extremely strange if either player gets here like this with clubs, but...that eight is kind of a bad card for Vincent."

Vincent looked over his chipstack again, contemplating his remaining wares.

"Vincent's line is that he has trip deuces or eights full, and when that eight hits the river, it makes it much less likely that he has two eights. Also, the way this hand played out, Takeru could have an eight in his hand, something like ace eight that he decided to be a bit loose with, so that eight would theoretically scare Vincent if he has a deuce."

Vincent got out six multi-colored chips, a blue chip, and a black chip, putting the array of clay out into the pot.

"One hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars is the bet from Vincent."

"And, even though some of our viewers might kill me for saying something like this, given that's an amount of money some people take three years to earn at their jobs, I think that bet is once again too small. Takeru now has to call off one hundred and sixty-five thousand to win five hundred and twenty-seven thousand, so he only needs to be right...one out of every four times for this to be a profitable call. Hard to turn down those odds against a maniac. If Vincent fires two hundred and fifty thousand on this river, or possibly even rips it all-in...Takeru has a much tougher decision."

Takeru leaned forward. "Obviously, you don't have an eight. That's absurd." He turned to Vincent, who looked down at the board with dull eyes. "If you do have an eight, you played very, very poorly and got very, very lucky here."

"I have to believe Takeru is aware of Vincent's reputation as a maniac as well, I actually think...against most players, Takeru folds before the turn. If Don Brown was doing this, for instance, I think he'd actually release his jacks on the flop, but the fact that he's gotten all the way here tells me that he doesn't buy it."

"You might have two eights, that's possible," Takeru continued. "That's pretty unlikely though at this point, and I feel like Perry over there had an eight." He pursed his lips in thought. "You could have two deuces, but...pretty unlikely as well. Two sixes, no, that's ridiculous too. And I don't think you have a flush either."

"But Takeru also has to realize there were no draws on the flop. No possible straights or flushes. So for Takeru to call and be right, Vincent does have to be COMPLETELY airballing. And if he calls and is wrong, he loses almost all of his profit so far today."

"So...do you have a deuce?" Takeru looked around the table. "Do you have it, or were you just floating Perry with nothing to represent the deuce later, knowing that I couldn't have a deuce in my range?"

Vincent just sat there, rock still, not giving any information away.

"Takeru's got the right idea."

Takeru looked over his chip pile carefully, calculating things for a moment. "You might have it. That's all you can really have." He clicked two of his chips together. "You bet pretty small on the turn, I don't like that. The kind of bet just begging to get called." He shrugged. "But...when they have it, sometimes, they deserve to get paid." He looked back over at Vincent. "Alright buddy. If you have it, you're getting paid."

Takeru tossed a couple of chips forward, causing Vincent to seemingly snap back to life, though his body slumped a bit.

"You win," Vincent said with a small grimace. "Queen high."

"Vincent Gandolfini showed a lot of heart on that hand, trying to bluff one of the best...I didn't hate the play at all, even though the sizing could have been better. And nice play by Takeru, he continues to run over this table with absolute authority."

Takeru, after showing his jacks, received a large pot from the dealer.

"Vincent ALMOST had the hand of a lifetime, but Takeru called him down! And he's the big winner so far today at our high stakes cash game!"

OOO

"Take a look at those two full stacks of red, white, and blue chips in front of Takeru that he just swapped for. Everyone out there, look at those two stacks of forty total chips. A bit of clay, molded into a round shape, those two stacks alone are worth one million dollars. Think about that for a second."

"Takeru needed to swap out some chips to clear out some room in front of him so he could see his cards, he's got nearly two million."

"I think this is worth the quarter million dollar minimum buyin though," Vincent said, a large smile on his face. "Look at this, I've got Takeru Ishida sitting directly to my left, I've got Perry Iverson directly to my right, it's like...who am I? What have I ever done that I get to sit with these two? Two of the greatest minds in the world, I'm just some punk who likes to bomb the local cash game. Where else in the world does something like this happen?"

"Most players, heh, they look at sitting between Iverson and Ishida as a problem, but Vincent...he's just thrilled by the whole thing. He's loving it, in fact. Kind of endearing."

"Why are you talking about me like that?" Takeru said with a grin. "I'm just some punk who ran good for a couple months. I might never win another bracelet again! You might not remember who I am in five years." He pointed over at Perry. "Now this guy, here's a guy who actually matters."

Yusef Kovalov, meanwhile, tossed in a black chip and two red chips.

"Ace six of diamonds for Kovalov, he's gonna open this pot from the hijack. Again, the straddle is on, so the seven thousand dollar open is standard. Jennifer Hill is out, Perry Iverson folds, and what does Vincent Gandolfini have in mind?"

Vincent pried up the corners on king six, both hearts.

"Suited king six. He's in the small blind, so he's already got some chips committed, but it's not much of a hand."

"It's the kind of hand that amateur players often can't resist playing, though, so Vincent might decide he's getting the right price to call. He is an active player who likes to play a lot of hands, as we're starting to see more and more as this day goes along."

Vincent, however, grabbed a multi-colored chip. "I raise," he announced.

"Vincent elects not to call, he raises to twenty five thousand dollars!"

"It's actually probably better than just calling, honestly, he...he could take down the pot right here, and it's a significant pot given the straddle is on. And Yusef is an amateur player himself, so targeting him actually makes sense to me, he's something you might be able to push around."

Takeru watched the bet go out, then twisted his head around to look to his left. "On you."

"Takeru doesn't have cards in front of him this hand, he was dealt out so he could swap out his chips, so action is on Daisy Scott in the big blind."

Daisy squinted down at the queen five of diamonds, then lifted her head up to spy over at Vincent.

"Daisy hasn't folded her queen five suited yet, that's...that's certainly a hand that you'd expect to land in the muck very quickly when facing a three-bet preflop. But Daisy seems to be thinking something here."

"Hey buddy," Daisy said. "How much did you have when this hand started? Like four hundred thousand?"

"Four hundred thousand, about right, yeah," Vincent answered, holding up four fingers on his right hand.

Daisy cut out a few chips from her piles, counted them out, and then pushed a collection of them forward. Sixteen black chips.

"That's a four-bet to eighty thousand! Wow, what is going on in this hand?!"

"Well, apparently Daisy got the memo that Vincent is capable of three-betting like this with a weak hand, and she's decided to make a move! Daisy has been mostly anonymous so far this session, she's...actually only lost like fifteen thousand after several hours of play, and now she's feeling frisky."

"I have an interesting hand too," John Volpe muttered as he folded from the straddle. "Can't play it now."

"Volpe folds the straddle, he had suited ace five. And Yusef has folded, he was the original raiser, he can't continue with the ace rag either."

Vincent, right hand up against his cheek, looked over intently at Daisy, then reached forward to take back his initial bet.

"And they don't let you take back bets once you make them in this game, so I can only assume that..."

Vincent put out sixteen blue chips in the spot just past his cards.

"Just so we're perfectly clear on this, Vincent Gandolfini has just five-bet to one hundred and sixty thousand dollars, preflop, with king six suited. Have the rules to this game changed in the last few minutes?"

"It's actually kind of beautiful, when you break it down. You've got two players who seem to believe that the other player has nothing, and both of them are willing to stake a LOT of money on that belief. I'm really enjoying this, and...what's Daisy going to do? In that hand we had last hour, I didn't really like Vincent trying to bluff a player as good as Takeru Ishida, but...he might be thinking that Daisy Scott is a better target. She's clearly a good player, but she doesn't have the bracelets and prestige to have a claim of being one of the best in the world like Takeru does right now. Maybe he feels that he can push her around."

Daisy shuffled a handful of chips around.

"After so many hours of playing pretty passively, Daisy's interest in this hand should be getting some credibility, but Vincent might not particularly care about things like that. What an action creator."

Daisy eventually put out sixteen black chips.

"And Daisy calls with the queen five suited, she can not be pushed! I believe this is what they call an all-out leveling war, and it's somehow managed to get one third of a million dollars in the pot with two pretty bad hands."

"This is purely an opponent-dependent play from Miss Scott, she...she's clearly aware of Vincent's wide range and ability to play super loose with mediocre hands, especially with the straddle on, so she's going to take a chance here. Now, her read of Vincent being weak is spot on, but if she's thinking that her queen five is the best hand, then...she may have a problem. But I'll tell you, this is fantastic to watch, I could really watch this all day, two players who just sense the other player is weak."

The dealer put out the deuce of spades, deuce of clubs, and seven of clubs.

"That is a miserable flop for both players. No pair and no draw for either, complete whiff."

"I very much doubt that will be an impediment for either player to get action in here. Now, this is a spot where acting first might be advantageous, Vincent's got the action, and he's got about a quarter of a million dollars left in front of him with a pot a third of a million in size. He could just go all-in here quite reasonably, and Daisy couldn't possibly continue. If he thinks Daisy is weak, he should just shove and end the hand."

Vincent, with several seconds of thought, put out two multi-colored chips.

"Fifty thousand from the young Gandolfini, very small bet in relation to the pot."

"Yeah, it's actually smaller than the raise he put in preflop, which you almost never see in poker. Very odd, and I think it's a mistake."

Daisy rubbed her temple for a few seconds, looking down at the board.

"I think what's happening here is that Vincent is trying to represent pocket aces or kings, and he's making an absurdly tiny bet as a way of trying to say...I want you to call, I have a huge hand, I want you to stick around, I want as many chips as I can get, so I'm going to make a tiny bet that you feel like you have to call. And that's all well and good, but at the end of the day, Vincent doesn't have aces. He has king high with no draw and he really doesn't want Daisy to stick around, so if you're going to continue in this hand, I think you have to make a normal bet. It might not tell as good of a story, but it's going to work much better just because of risk."

Daisy grabbed two of the cranberry chips, tossing them forward.

"I actually think Daisy's queen high is the best hand enough of the time here to make this a reasonable call. She doesn't even have to call trying to hit a queen on the turn, she might actually have the best hand right now. That bet isn't getting rid of anything, although it does put Daisy in a really weird spot on the turn. She's really running out of room if she has plans of bluffing Vincent at some point. And if her grand plan is to call him down with queen high and think it's the best hand, this is going to be very ugly for her."

The dealer turned over the ace of hearts on the board.

"Ace of hearts on the turn. Vincent now with eighty percent equity."

"Very, very interesting card, both of these players might think that the other one has an ace. Four hundred and thirty thousand dollars in the middle, and...forget the percentages on this hand, forget the math, this is a psychological battle. A battle of wills. Who's going to dig deeper to win this hand?"

Vincent shuffled chips around in his right hand, looking the newly-revealed ace over closely.

"That ace could change the dynamic of this hand significantly. I still say that Vincent should just shove here, he's got less than half a pot left, there's really no reason why not, if you've come this far, you probably have to just go for it and hope that Daisy doesn't have an ace."

Finally, three multi-colored chips went from Vincent's hand to just past the yellow line.

"Seventy-five thousand, another miniscule bet relative to the pot size."

"Once again, trying to tell the story that he has pocket aces and just turned a full house. And once again, I...it's kind of a cool representation of aces, in all fairness, but I would just much prefer going all-in. It's still a reasonable representation of a strong hand, and it's going to work so much better in this spot."

Daisy tilted her head down a bit as she mulled things over.

"And this is the moment for Daisy. If she can actually suss out the logic of this hand, put the pieces together, and find the courage to go all-in right here, then this is going to be a hand for the ages. I don't know if she can pull the trigger, it's a lot to figure out on the spot."

"Well, she came this far and put all this money in already, so...if you're not going to go for it now, what was the point?"

Daisy put her finger up to her lips, rubbing it back and forth along the skin.

"If Daisy shoves here, Vincent will be getting close to six to one on a call. It's an absurdly good price. It's a price that you would expect him to call easily. So trying to bluff here, without knowing the cards, seems suicidal. And yet, if she does it, it would work. It would look SO much like ace ten or ace jack, Vincent would fold immediately."

"I talked earlier about how, when a player makes their first televised cash game appearance, it's good for them to do something to leave an impression. Daisy Scott is a woman who, frankly, makes a big impression just by being present, but...she might be thinking, this is her chance. This is the opportunity to really get her name on the invite list for all the big games. If she could come out on top in this crazy, bizarre, insane hand, it might just be the kick she was hoping for. This would be an elite play, one of the best plays I've ever seen, if she can do it. People will be talking about it for weeks."

"Alright." Daisy reached forward and grabbed a stack of chips. "I'm all-in." She moved the stack of chips forward.

Immediately, Vincent took his cards and slid them over to the dealer. "Eugh," he muttered, quickly giving up his cards.

"Wow. What a hand. So much heart."

Daisy picked her two cards up off the felt, turned them over, and threw them down in the middle of the table.

"Oh my GOD, what the—" Vincent said, upon the sight of the cards. The table practically detonated.

"WHOA! OH MAN!" Jennifer yelped. Walsh jumped out of his seat.

"BABY! BABY! BABYDOLL!" Takeru shouted, enjoying himself immensely.

"Alright, we're playing some poker now. We're playing some poker!" Daisy said, unable to keep herself from grinning massively as the large pot went in her direction.

"That was poker," John Volpe chimed in, nodding appreciatively. "Wow."

"Wow, the best part of that was you said 'alright'," Takeru continued. "Like...alright, I'm all in. That was the best part of that whole thing."

Vincent finally lifted his head back up. "It's so brutal too, because if the turn is anything but an ace, I'm just all-in right there!" He couldn't quite help but give a knowing smirk, despite being had. "I had nothing too."

"I knew you had nothing!" Daisy said, laughing as she spoke. "I just knew you had nothing!"

"Yeah, any turn card that isn't an ace, I just shove, it's only an ace!" Vincent said, shaking his head.

"I was just so sure you had nothing when you raised Yusef, it was so funny," Daisy continued, stacking chips. "But then, I was sitting there on the turn thinking that this is gonna look like the stupidest hand ever played if I go all-in and you just say call." She laughed a few times again.

"Ugh," Vincent said. "That's so brutal."

"We'll probably need a couple minutes for Daisy to wipe the blood off her mouth after that one. We'll be back, but Vincent Gandolfini might not be!" 


	33. Felted

Chapter 33: Felted

"Alright, I'm all-in," Takeru said as he opened the door to the hotel room, looking over his shoulder. "So perfect, so good."

"It's got some real expectations to live up to when I see it on television," Ken replied, entering the room right ahead of Daisy and Hikari. "You won't stop talking about it."

"It was so beautiful," Takeru continued to gush. "Like, the way she said it as she was going in, it was just...like, like she was saying, I guess I may as well go in, I just hit an ace, there's too much money in the pot for me to ever fold, you only have a little left." He grinned. "I would have bet fifty thousand dollars that she had ace jack or ace ten."

"I never thought that I'd ever be trying to represent a medium strength hand intentionally," Daisy said, tossing her purse over on the dining room table. "But yeah, I just...I just needed to represent ace ten."

"And it was amazing," Takeru continued, sweeping back towards her and grabbing her right hand just as she was pulling her feet out of her heels. With a playful little shriek, she nearly fell forward, leaving her shoes behind. Takeru caught her before she could fall and began an impromptu slow dance with her. "One thing to think it, another thing to actually go through with it."

"Someone's in a good mood," Ken commented as Takeru and Daisy moved gracefully around the main room.

"Yeah, don't know why I would be, I'm only up one million two hundred thousand," Takeru replied.

"You are such a luckbox, it's unbelievable," Ken said. "You know, the thing that really hurts about it is that anyone could have gotten you." Ken looked over at Hikari, who was leaning up by the counterspace in the kitchen area now. "You were there that night at Hido's, we were all there, anyone could have made a deal with Hido for you. I even complimented you!" He rolled his eyes. "Takeru's not the one who needs good luck, he was the best of us independent of any of that."

"Well, clearly, I don't work well with you," Hikari said. "Find your own charm."

"So anyway, I can only assume a good chunk of your winnings came from our mark?" Ken continued, putting his palms down flat on the dining table and leaning over a bit, looking over at Takeru.

"Something like that," Takeru replied. "He's not terrible, actually, he's just got some gaps in his understanding." He shrugged. "I just call him down and hope for the best, he...he knows how to tell a good story."

"His sizing is atrocious," Daisy added. "I mean, really bad, but other than that, he's not totally spewy."

"Well, I'll take any weaknesses I can, my table today was brutal," Ken grunted. "I feel tremendous accomplishment in that I escaped with my life."

"Still four days left," Takeru pointed out. "Just be patient, it's gonna happen for you."

"So, assuming we do manage to stick the knife into our mark for maximum value, what's the plan then?" Ken asked.

"Do I look like a guy with a plan?" Takeru asked rhetorically. He and Daisy finally stopped dancing. "I'm a guy pushing buttons on the control panel written in a language I can't read, hoping something good happens when I push one of them."

"I mean, I kind of knew that was the case, but for you to just say it out loud it's...it's really bad," Ken said dryly. "It's so much worse when you say it out loud."

"Look, it's not going to matter if we don't clean the kid out," Takeru said. "Let's just worry about that right now."

OOO

"Oh, I promise you Sammy would love to be out here right now." Takeru took a quick look down at his cards before sliding them over to the dealer. "It's definitely killing him that he can't be out here right now."

"Yeah, I wanted to play with the guy," Fabian Rass said, restacking his pile of chips. "I've played with his dad so much over the years, great guy, never gotten to play with his son."

"The table is talking about Samuel Abaid, a close friend of Takeru Ishida, and the son of Joseph Abaid, a well-known presence at high roller tables and tournaments around the world. He broke his professional poker cherry at the most recent world series, same as Takeru."

"Yeah, really great guy. I promise you he can't wait to start playing in televised cash games," Takeru added.

"Meanwhile, Vincent Gandolfini is looking down at pocket deuces, spades and diamonds, and he's got an unopened pot in front of him. The straddle is currently off, so he's got a big blind of twelve hundred to go."

Vincent, after considering things for a moment, grabbed four red chips and fired them out into the pot.

"Raise to four thousand from the young amateur from middle position, and that puts the action on Ken Ichijouji. The twenty-year-old has a look down at...he's got pocket kings!"

Ken put his cards down next to his chip stack, glancing over at Vincent's stack out of the corner of his eyes.

"Ken has set his gaze over on Vincent's remaining holdings. With a hand like two kings, he has to feel like he has a good chance of carving out a large portion of those chips."

"You know, my radar for these kinds of things must be terrible," Sarah Quoss piped up, looking over at Takeru. "All throughout the world series, I was watching the coverage, and I kept thinking that the sparks were between Daisy and Sammy. For some reason, I picked up on something, I thought they were together. And now, with...you know, you, I'm just wondering how I could have missed it."

Ken tossed out four red chips.

"That's a bit of a surprise, Ken just calls with pocket kings. Definitely a risk, definitely very sneaky, and it's probably the right move given Vincent's hand. That call prompts a couple quick folds."

"Well, you might not be totally off base with that thought," Takeru replied. "It's actually really funny, Sammy, um, for whatever reason, despite his best efforts, no luck in love." He gave a small smile. "And it's funny, Sammy, he's never once complained about a poker hand to me in his life, he never gives me a bad beat story or anything, but he's called me, three times, out of the blue, to complain about...like, going home from a party empty-handed. Three times in the last two years."

"Andres Montero has pocket threes in the big blind here, another pocket pair. He only needs another twenty four hundred to make this call, I have to believe he'll be participating."

Montero flipped out a handful of chips.

"And we will have three to the flop."

"And the thing is, Sammy tells it like a bad beat story. He'll say, there were five girls there, I felt like I could get any of them, I went for the hottest one, she blew me off, and by then the other four had left. That's like a Sammy bad beat story. And he'll be upset about it for like two days after." He glanced over his shoulder at one of the other active tables. "I think he's always trying to send out vibes, trying to find the one, so maybe there was something there, I don't know."

The dealer put out the king of hearts, three of clubs, and queen of spades.

"And what a flop! Top set and the absolute nuts for Ken, and Andres has bottom set! This should create some serious fireworks! Andres checks his set, action over to Vincent, who has missed."

"Vincent might continue here. He probably shouldn't, this flop smashes Ken's range pretty hard, but most amateurs can't resist the pull of trying to continuation bet when given the opportunity."

Vincent grabbed a blue chip from one of his stacks and tossed it out onto the felt.

"Ten thousand from Vincent, he will take a stab at it. He's running headfirst directly into a couple monsters, but I don't mind the bet."

"My favorite Sammy story, one I'll never forget, was from six months ago," Ken started, looking over at Sarah, as he absentmindedly tossed a blue chip forward. "He went to a party, an industry party, for the porn industry. So he's at this house full of porn actresses, right, and, he ends up going for the...the guy who lives there, his roommate, who is not in the porn industry, just your average girl. By the end of the night he's over in the corner giving her a backrub, and, the rest of the house is apparently just going nuts with debauchery, and he's just with the girl who just lives there, and they're exchanging phone numbers at the end of the night. He goes to that party, and that's what he went for, and later he was just...ah man, I really thought she was the one, I can't believe she wasn't the one."

"So, somehow, Ken Ichijouji just flopped the nuts, had a bet in front of him, and was able to smooth call while joining in an unrelated conversation about porn actresses. Forget Takeru's four bracelets, that might be the greatest achievement in poker history."

"Meanwhile, Andres Montero has to be loving this, sitting there with a set of threes, seeing a bet and call. He's got to be squaring up to spring his trap right here, not realizing that he's the one who's about to get trapped."

Andres fired out two red, white and blue chips.

"That is a raise to fifty thousand dollars from Montero, that should get this down to a heads up pot. And Montero is actually drawing dead, Antony Carter folded jack three preflop."

"I mean, maybe he's into the thrill of the hunt," Vincent suggested as he folded his twos over to the dealer.

"You still have to hunt for those girls. It's not just, like, a buffet," Ken said.

"This is a performance for the ages. How can you even fathom for a moment that Ken has top set, given he's getting involved in this side conversation? Most players, when they have a monster hand, clam up. Montero was probably going broke anyway, but with this act from Ken, it's all but guaranteed."

"Yeah, Sammy's a great character," Takeru continued. "I think he's gonna do the premier league this year, that's gonna be so much fun."

"Are you doing the premier league?" Vincent asked, turning over to look at Takeru.

"Yeah, I think so, I got the invite, I can't wait for it," Takeru replied. "Completely different format from anything else in the world, I'm all over the premier league."

Ken put out four blue chips.

"Ken is just calling here, he's going to slowplay his hand. He doesn't want to blow Andres off of a hand like ace king, just in case. If he knew that he had the set of threes, he'd be pushing things, of course."

The dealer put down the four of hearts.

"That card changes nothing. Ken still has the nuts, Montero still has a monster. Andres Montero is known as one of the tightest players in poker, does not get out of line very often, does not play many hands, so by now Ken must realize that he really has something. He just has to try to figure out what that something is."

"Absolute nightmare for Montero. Set over set, almost impossible to get away from. And Ken has Andres covered, so by the time this hand is over, he will almost certainly be felted."

Slowly, Montero gathered up five of his most valuable chips, the multi-colored ones, and fired them forward.

"One hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, sweet music to Ken's ears. Montero is now pot committed, he does not have all that much money left, the pot is several times larger than his remaining stack, so Ken can move in with impunity."

"Ken has had a bit of a rough go of it at this high stakes cash game. He's down about one hundred and fifty thousand through the first three days. But here, on the fourth day, he's fallen into the perfect hand to get it all back and then some. He will be in the black quite easily after this hand is over."

"I'm all-in," Ken said softly, pushing a small stack of multi-colored chips forward.

"Call," Montero replied quickly, pushing what was left in front of him into the pot. Ken turned over his two kings, drawing a look of disgust from Andres as he flipped up two threes.

"And that look from Montero says it all. He was patient, he waited for a big hand, and he thought he could start going in the right direction, but no such luck. And what a big swing for Ken!"

The dealer put out a meaningless river card, the ace of diamonds.

"Oh, wow, look what happened while we were all talking about stupid crap," Sarah commented as she watched the giant pot of chips go towards Ken.

"Dude, did you seriously just...enter a conversation and start talking about porn stars while sitting on top set?" Takeru said, raising his eyebrows over towards Ken. "See, you guys, you all think I'm a good player, look at this guy." He pointed over at Ken. "Did everyone just see that performance? That was so next-level, that was like...eight levels. He had eight different levels working there."

"I was pretty proud of that," Ken admitted, stacking his chips with a small smirk.

"Ken has a lot to be proud of right now, most critically the fact that he is now officially on the positive side here at our super high roller cash game!"

OOO

"Okay, I got one," Fabian chimed in as the dealer dealt out a new hand. "Uh...Takeru gets a phone call, and is told that Ken is going to jail for the rest of his life, unless Takeru spends a certain amount of time in prison in his place. What is the maximum amount of time that Takeru would say yes to?"

"Oh, I like that one," Antonio Arvin said, nodding eagerly. "That's a good one."

"So, it's gonna be on you Antonio," Fabian said, pointing over at the slightly dark-skinned, bespectacled man. "We're all going to guess what YOU think the maximum amount of time is."

"It's really amazing how often a poker table eventually turns to this game. The players are all playing a sort of...game where you try to get inside someone's head. Basically, a question gets posed, someone comes up with what they think the answer is, and then everyone gets to bid on the answer, and the closest answer wins. It's the kind of game that poker players would enjoy, when you think about it."

"Okay, I'm locked in," Antonio said, folding his cards over to the dealer. "I know you two are really close and have known each other for a long time, but I definitely don't have any inside information. I might be way off."

"Meanwhile, as the players all come up with their bids, everyone's folding, coming around to Vincent in the cutoff."

Vincent pried up the corners on the ace of diamonds and queen of hearts.

"Ace queen offsuit for Vincent, more than enough for him to open this pot."

Vincent put out four red chips and two white chips.

"Eighteen days," Ken said, as he took in his two cards and looked down. Ace of spades, king of spades.

"Ace king suited on the button for Ken, and he's got a known maniac to his right! Great spot for Ken, who is having a great day at the felt. Look at all those chips he has in front of him. He should be adding to that stack here."

"Wow," Sarah said with a bit of a laugh. "Eighteen days? Is there some friction between you two or something?"

Ken gave a muted laugh as he pushed out a blue chip, a black chip, and a red chip.

"Raise to sixteen thousand from Ken. He has to love ace king suited against Vincent's likely range."

"Vincent is definitely a player who could be opening here with just about any hand. As it turns out, he has a real hand, he's just run into a hand that has him dominated."

"Seriously, eighteen days, where's that coming from?" Fabian asked.

"That's my bid, that's all I'm saying," Ken insisted as the blinds both quickly folded.

"I say thirty months," Sarah offered. "Two and a half years."

"I think Ken might be on to something," Fabian suggested. "I dunno, look at Takeru, he...you think he's lasting any significant period of time in prison? Look at this guy, there's no way. Ken's got this...like, wirey strength to him, he could probably make it in there, I'm getting this distinct sense that he's secretly some kind of badass. I think he might just go, sorry Ken, you'll do so much better in there than I ever could...I say twenty-eight days maximum."

Vincent pushed out a stack of seven blue chips.

"And we've got a real pot developing here, Vincent has raised it up to seventy thousand dollars. He feels like he's entitled to push the action now that he has a premium hand, after a few days of pushing the action without a good hand. Unfortunately, he's run into a bigger one."

"Nah, these two, they're close," Vincent insisted. "I can feel it, I think...I say eight years. I think Takeru would go to prison for eight years to save Ken. These two, they're tight."

"I'll go eight months," Andres Montero voiced. "I don't see him giving up a huge portion of his life, but eight months, sure."

"Wow, these answers, they're all over the place," Antonio said. "That's why this one is so good."

"Okay, I'm all-in," Ken said, taking a full stack of his multi-colored chips and pushing them out.

"Wow! And Ken has just decided to put Vincent all-in with his suited ace king! He's, of course, got Vincent covered, so he's actually just betting Vincent's remaining stack, which is about eighty thousand dollars more. Still a large bet, and Vincent's in a very tough situation."

Vincent pursed his lips, rubbing his eyebrows. "Wow. I wasn't planning on folding."

"I'm actually a little impressed that Vincent didn't snap all-in, this is the kind of spot where an amateur might just feel entitled to just call it off. And I'm sure Vincent remembers that memorable hand a few days ago against Daisy Scott, who got into an all-out leveling war against him with queen five suited. He must be wondering if Ken is up to something similar."

"I don't know what to do," Vincent muttered, looking back down at his cards. "I know you think I'm calling with this hand. But then, you don't know that I have this hand." He leaned forward to look at Ken's face. "I'd hate to let you off the hook holding something like ace five or something. You just assume I don't have anything, because I usually don't, you've got a blocker, so you go for it...ah man."

"Ken Ichijouji is up about six hundred thousand dollars today, so that might have empowered him to make some kind of big move here with a light hand. However, if Ken actually has a hand, then Vincent realizes that his offsuit ace queen is either flipping or way behind."

"Alright, I'm all-in," Vincent said, tossing some chips forward into the pot.

Ken turned over his ace king of spades. "You wanna run it twice?" he asked.

"Oh snap, big pot," Takeru said, suddenly perking up. "Let's put the bids on hold for a second, I wanna see this."

Vincent turned over his dominated hand. "I'm good for whatever, doesn't make much of a difference to me."

Ken gave a little smile. "Uh, let's...four times?"

Vincent shrugged. "Sure, let's run the board four times, why not?"

"Ken and Vincent have agreed to run out the board four times. We rarely see that. We often see twice, sometimes three times, but four is pretty rare. Should be fun."

"Ken is a seventy-six percent favorite to win the hand, so running it four times makes it very likely that Vincent wins one run and gets at least a little bit of his money back. Also makes it more likely that Ken makes some money off of this pot, running it multiple times reduces variance. So, each runout will be worth one quarter of the pot. Pot looks to be a bit less than four hundred thousand."

The dealer quickly burned a card, then flopped out the king of hearts, six of clubs, and king of clubs.

"I would have been fine with one king," Ken said, putting his hands underneath his chin as he watched the cards flip over. "Takes away one of my cards for the next three runs."

"Jack ten," Vincent said. "Still drawing live."

In short order, the dealer put out the eight of spades, then the five of diamonds.

"First run goes over to Ken, he takes the first quarter of the pot."

Without wasting time, the dealer put out the seven of diamonds, seven of hearts, and three of clubs.

"Another three would be nice," Vincent suggested. "We could chop with that."

"For a guy who has lost somewhere around two million dollars over the last few days, Vincent seems to be taking everything pretty well. If only everyone could be such a good sport in the face of such misfortune. Turn card, the four of diamonds, changes nothing. Vincent needs a queen to win this run, or a three or four to chop it."

The dealer peeled out the queen of spades.

"Alright, pressure's off!" Vincent said. "Should have agreed to just run it twice, I guess."

"Vincent takes the second run, gets some of his chips back. Third run coming up, ten eight three with two clubs, nothing there for Vincent. Turn card, four of spades, no good."

"I was thinking I could run out broadway at some point, but...only one king left now," Vincent mused. "Alright, still two queens."

The river, the two of clubs, ended the third run in Ken's favor.

"Now, Ken has guaranteed at least some profit from this hand, can he secure a big win by taking the final run? The dealer is wasting no time in putting out the fourth board. Ten four four rainbow."

"Oh, that's not too bad," Vincent pointed out. "Another ten would be nice."

"Sure, ten on the turn. King on the river. I'm down for that," Ken replied. "Okay, how much did you have to start this hand?"

The dealer slapped down the eight of diamonds, then the five of clubs.

"That secures the final run for Ken, he's running very, very well here today, showing off the talents that got him invited to this game, and landed him such a successful world series run!"

OOO

"Yeah, this is it for me," Vincent said, pointing down at his remaining stacks. "If I get felted, I'm out. We have less than two hours left anyway, but yeah, I'm...this is it for me."

Takeru craned his head up. "How much total?"

"Two hundred ninety thousand," Vincent answered. A fresh hand was sent out to each player.

"Day five of our Super High Roller Bowl Cash Game. Only a couple hours left. For those of you out there who may have recently suffered some financial misfortune, maybe had an investment bomb out that cost you a few thousand, or maybe had some part of your car break down that cost a few hundred to fix...just remember that there are people in the world like Vincent Gandolfini. He has lost over three million dollars in cash over these last five days. Absolutely staggering."

"Yeah, he's very clearly outclassed by this field of players, and it seems like most of the players here today are aware of how he plays and have just not been letting him run them over. Rough sessions for the kid, but maybe he learn something from it."

"Takeru Ishida is first to act, the straddle is on, so there's a significant amount already in the middle. Takeru has been one of the big beneficiaries of Vincent's losses, he is up a total of nearly two million dollars."

Takeru looked down at the ace of clubs and two of spades, slowly surveying the table.

"A few of our players have retired for the night early, so we're actually playing six handed on all three of our tables. Takeru, Vincent, Perry, John Volpe, Martin, and Antonio currently at this table, pot is five thousand four hundred."

Takeru tossed out a black chip next to a red chip.

"Six thousand is the bet. Takeru's got a weak hand, but he's feeling brave with his massive winnings this week, he's got a blocker with the ace, and with only five other players, he's going to take a shot at picking up blinds and antes."

Vincent peeked down at the seven and five, both diamonds.

"Seven five suited for Vincent, playable cards."

"Not a terrible hand, but Vincent has less than three hundred thousand dollars behind, so it's not that great of a spot either. If Vincent wants to play, I prefer a raise to capture fold equity. Takeru might not respect Vincent's raises very much, but he's not going to war with a short stack with a hand as weak as ace deuce offsuit."

Vincent, however, tossed out two chips, black and red, to make the call.

"Vincent will try to catch a lucky flop, he makes the call. Perry and John both quickly fold."

"I'd be good with that call if Vincent had half a million in front of him, but here? You just don't have enough money to get paid off big even if you make a big hand. You've got less than two hours left, wait for an actual monster and go for it."

"Given Vincent's heavy losses, he's probably looking to gamble. Anyway, everyone else has folded, we have two players to the flop."

The dealer put down the jack of clubs, four of spades, and two of clubs.

"Interesting flop for Takeru. He pairs his deuce, he's got a backdoor nut flush draw and a backdoor straight draw. He doesn't have to continue betting here, actually, it's a spot where checking is reasonable."

Takeru picked up a blue chip and a black chip, tossing them forward.

"He will continue. Fifteen thousand. Over to Vincent, who has missed this flop entirely."

"But missing the flop has never really been an impediment to Gandolfini. Sometimes it feels like he likes it best when he doesn't have a good hand."

Vincent built a small chip tower in front of him. Four blue chips and a black one. He pushed it out.

"That is a raise to forty-five grand from the amateur! No pair, no draw, no problem, he's going to put the pressure on."

"And despite Vincent's reputation as a maniac, this is not an easy decision for Takeru. He's out of position, he's got very bottom pair and two backdoor draws, so he's very likely to be forced to put in an awful lot of money without having much of a hand on the turn if he calls here."

Takeru looked back down at his cards carefully, then turned his gaze back to Vincent.

"Well, Takeru has the ace of clubs in his hand, so he knows that Vincent's not doing this with the nut flush draw. So it's also hard for him to have a pair and a draw. But still, with stack sizes being what they are, it's not a great spot to look the kid up. This flop does tend to hit a caller's range better than a raiser's range. Really, Takeru is never supposed to have a deuce in his hand given the preflop action."

Takeru, however, tossed out three blue chips.

"Takeru wants to stick around, he makes the call. Two hundred and thirty-nine thousand dollars left in Vincent's stack, one hundred and seven thousand in the middle."

The dealer put out the queen of clubs on the turn.

"Great card for Takeru, he now has the nut flush draw to go with his bottom pair. Action on him."

Takeru tapped the felt a few times.

"Great card for Takeru, but also a great card for Vincent to keep bluffing on. He can represent a made flush, and even though Takeru has the flush draw, if Vincent has a flush, he's drawing very thin. I have to believe he'll fire away here."

Eight blue chips dropped into the pot from Vincent's hand.

"Eighty thousand is the bet. Much better sizing that some of the bets we saw from Vincent earlier in this cash game."

"Now, even though Takeru has picked up some real equity with that third club, this is still not an easy call. He's not getting the right price against a made flush or a set, which is what Vincent is representing here. Takeru has shown a willingness to call light against Vincent, but to make a profitable call here, Takeru has to believe that his pair of deuces is the best hand a decent percentage of the time."

Takeru looked down at his monsterous stack of chips, blinking rapidly a few times.

"As it turns out, his pair of deuces is the best hand. By the way, there's one hundred and fifty-nine thousand left in front of Vincent, so he's certainly going to bomb the river if he gets called, and Takeru must realize that."

Takeru ripped out eight blue chips.

"A quarter million dollars in this pot. Vincent has absolutely nothing, Takeru's got bottom pair and a flush draw. This is quite a hand developing late."

"Vincent HAS to unload the clip on the river, and while Takeru is fully aware of Vincent's ability to go crazy with a bluff, I'm not sure he's sick enough to call with bottom pair. I think Vincent's play will get through unless this river is an ace, deuce, or club."

The five of clubs was slapped down on the river.

"And there it is! The five of clubs gives Vincent a meaningless pair of fives, meaningless in that it has also given Takeru the stone nuts!"

Takeru tapped the table with his fingers a few times.

"And Takeru has checked the nuts! He's checked it over to Vincent to keep his bluffs alive, and it just so happens that Vincent has a bluff! Phenomenal check!"

Vincent looked at Takeru out of the corner of his eyes, using his right hand to shuffle chips around.

"Vincent can unload the clip here if he wants to, but he is firing blanks. I actually think this play was about to work out for Vincent, he's gotten very unlucky that Takeru has gone runner-runner for the nuts."

Vincent went through his remaining chips slowly.

"Maybe rivering a pair of fives will get him to shut down and hope he's somehow good?"

"I'm all-in," Vincent said.

"Call," Takeru said immediately, causing Vincent's face to wrinkle up.

"Uh, pair of fives," Vincent said, grabbing his cards. "Ace jack with the ace of clubs or something?" He turned his hand over, prompting Takeru to do the same. "Yeah, nice hand."

"Oooh," Antonio gasped. "What a runout."

"Got to feel for Vincent there. I liked his play a lot, Takeru just so happened to catch the perfect runout where he could call him down."

Vincent stood up. "Alright guys, I'm out. Have fun."

"And that will be the end of Vincent Gandolfini in our super high roller cash game. He exits, down nearly three and a half million dollars, the victim of several professional players exploiting his aggressiveness."

Vincent walked off from the table.

"Boy was he entertaining. Maybe not a great poker player, but a hell of a guy to have on television. And, if we're doing silver linings, the good news for Vincent is that the network will be paying him close to fifty thousand dollars for his time at our table."

"The bad news? About everything else."

"Would you have heroed him on the river with the pair of deuces?" Antonio asked.

Takeru grimaced for a moment. "I...I don't know, it's...he's so polarized there, it's tough." He shook his head a couple times. "Oh man, imagine if that was the five of hearts on the river instead. He would have been bluffing with the best hand, I would have heroed and...been right and lost."

"Well, you still would have been up over...what? A million and a half?" Antonio pointed out. "I mean that's gotta just feel great."

"It does," Takeru admitted. He twisted his head around. "Hey, if we're down to seventeen now, can we consolidate tables?"

OOO

~Takeru~

Takeru planted his hands in the pockets of his pants, glancing around, then returning his focus to Daisy's back.

"Wow." Daisy mumbled, leaning forward, over her chips, looking down at the board as she pushed her hands through her hair. "I have...I have no idea what to do."

Across from her on the table, which was otherwise vacated except for the dealer, was Patrick O'Malley, who had a significant pile of chips out in front of his cards. The board had run out three of diamonds, two of diamonds, two of spades, seven of clubs, and jack of hearts.

Daisy sighed. "Of course, last hand of the whole event, I end up defining my entire week with this decision." She grimaced. "Okay. Well, I'm definitely not raising, I'll say that."

Patrick sat there, stone-faced, not moving or reacting in the slightest.

"Not much of a table talker?" Daisy said with a wry smile. "Alright." She reached forward and tapped her index finger on the jack of hearts that had come up on the river. "That river card was actually the best card in the whole deck for me," she admitted. "I don't think I can fold on that card."

Ken came up behind Takeru, leaning up towards his head. "What do you think?"

Takeru turned towards him, keeping his voice low. "Patrick is...talk about being polarized, right?"

"Quad deuces?" Ken mused. "He'd raise the flop or turn with trip deuces, wouldn't he?"

"Quad deuces...threes full...sevens full...that's it." Takeru nodded to himself. "I dunno, I'd call."

"What bluffs can he have?" Ken continued. "Not many bluffs either."

"Maybe you just let me hang myself the whole way," Daisy continued, leaning back in her chair heavily as her right hand absentmindedly shuffled chips around. "Six four of diamonds...six five of diamonds...five four of diamonds...maybe?" She licked her lips, shrugging. "I hope." With a shake of her head, she picked up one of her chips and tossed it out into the pot.

"You're good," Patrick said, finally reaching up to rub the top of his head. "Good call." He flipped over the six four of diamonds.

With a heavy sigh of relief, Daisy turned over the ace of diamonds and jack of spades.

"Had the right idea," Patrick said, looking over at Daisy's hand. "That jack killed me."

Daisy stood up from her chair, turning around as the messy pile of chips went over towards her stack, giving a fist pump as she approached her two friends.

"Whooo!" Daisy said. "I had no idea what the right play was."

"Great call," Takeru said. "It's a tough spot, I think you did the right thing."

"I'm not convinced," Daisy said with a small grin, wiping her forehead off. "It's those three hands, that's it...six four, five four, six five, all diamonds, that's all I can beat, three hands."

"Hey, he's a pretty wild player, he might have other bluffs."

"I had the ace of diamonds in my hand!" Daisy continued. "I know he can't have the nut flush draw, that...murders his bluff range." She looked over to Takeru's left, over towards Hikari. "I don't know, what do you think, was that a good call?"

Hikari shrugged. "Well, you...you won. So how bad can it be?"

"See, there's some wisdom," Ken offered. "You won, just be happy."

"Nice catch."

Takeru turned around, along with Ken and Hikari, to find Vincent standing right behind them.

"Nice catch on that river, great call too," Vincent said. "That's got to feel good."

"Oh, hey buddy," Takeru said, turning his body towards him. "Just wrapping up, that was the last hand of the night."

"Uh-huh, hey guys, I just wanted to say...these last five days, I've had so much fun it's unreal. I...all these people, so far above me at this, I'm just so outclassed, the fact that I'm able to even get on the felt with guys like you three and...Perry and Don and...everyone here, man. Thanks so much."

Takeru concealed his continued surprise that a man like this came from such a seedy background, giving only a small nod. "You know, you've mastered half the game already. You can take heavy losses without letting it get to you, that's...that's the sign of a player who has a chance to really make it in this game."

"Uh-huh," Vincent replied. "Yeah, I...actually, before you leave, I wanted a word with you in private, Takeru. If you can spare a moment."

Takeru blinked rapidly a few times, giving a brief glance over towards Ken. "S-sure," he said. "Uh, sure, let's go out into the hall, should be pretty empty right now."

"Alright, it'll be real quick," Vincent said, turning around and quickly jogging off.

"You don't think it's actually going to...be this easy, do you?" Daisy said, sounding almost wary as Vincent ran off.

"Don't even hope that," Ken replied. "Come on, you don't know what he's...he could be asking anything. He could be asking if you two would be interested in a ménage à trois."

"It's pretty weird that that's the first thing that pops into your head," Daisy said dryly. "Where's your mind at?"

"It's Ken," Takeru pointed out. "He had at least six seconds to think, that was definitely not the first thing that popped into his head, he cycled through at least thirty different things first." He turned to look over at Hikari. "Can you keep an eye on the money?"

"More than happy to," Hikari answered. "Just be careful with that guy, he...he's almost a little too off."

Takeru grimaced. "That thought did cross my mind." Nevertheless, he took off towards the direction Vincent had ran off towards, tugging at the lapels of his jacket.

Just outside the poker room, it was indeed fairly gentle at the moment, a largely vacated hallway area between rooms of The Yuko. Vincent stood right by the door, bobbing his head around.

"Hey there," Takeru said, leaning up on the wall next to him.

"Hey, hey man," Vincent said. "So, uh, great work this week, really, I...I loved watching the master at work, you know? Even when it was at my expense."

"I'm no master," Takeru replied. "Believe me, there are real masters out there, I'm not one of them."

"Um..." Vincent paused for a second. "I feel like an asshole for even asking about this, but...I don't know, I feel like we have some sort of connection, I know we just met, but I kinda feel like we're pretty close somehow."

Takeru's eyes widened a bit, and he took a reflexive step away from Vincent.

"Oh, wow, that...that came out really bad," Vincent admitted, shaking his head. "Okay, look, it's not a big deal, I'll totally understand if you say no, but...I kind of lost a lot of money over the last week, right?" Vincent sighed. "And...believe me, I'm no stranger to that, it happens to me all the time, but this is a pretty extreme case."

"Okay," Takeru replied. "I think I see."

"Yeah, it's...more than three million dollars in five days, and...I can get money from my father. I always can't. It's not a big deal, he's...I'm sure I don't even need to tell you." Vincent gave a quick glance around the hallway, seeing it was again vacated outside of the two. "He's got plenty of money, but it's...I mean, embarrassing." He shrugged. "I'll do it if I need to, it's not a huge thing, I'll...I'll deal with the fallout if I need to, but...I was wondering if you could maybe help me out so I can avoid that."

Takeru squinted for a moment. "Alright, I...okay, I'm getting the picture here."

"Look, if you can't do it, you can't do it. If you don't want to do it, that's fine too, like I said, I'll deal with my dad. He'll get upset, I might get lectured, he might hold out awhile, but...I can get money from him. I know this is lame, I wouldn't ask most people, but...I feel like we're kind of friends, so I wanted to ask."

Takeru quickly nodded. "Um, well...I mean, I can understand your situation. Not personally, but...I don't know if I want to get into the habit of refunding opponents after poker sessions."

"Oh, I'm not saying it's for free, I'm saying we make some kind of deal," Vincent continued. "I know that...it's mostly my father, but I've got some...some things going for me as well, I...we might be able to come to an agreement. I'm just looking for...enough to get me through some cash game sessions here for a couple months so it doesn't look so bad for me, a hundred thousand at most. I feel like I might have something worth that much to you." He glanced around again. "Come on, we're both...both sons of wealthy businessmen, I think we can find some common ground. I'm sure I can help you with something that's worth something to you."

Takeru tilted his head back and forth a couple times. "Uh-huh."

"I don't know what you'd want, but I think we can find something," Vincent insisted. "I know a lot of things just by being around my dad's partners."

"Tell you what," Takeru said. "Why don't you stop by my hotel room tomorrow night, huh? I think that we might be able to find something."

"Alright!" Vincent said with a grin. "Yeah, I'm...we can work something out, and my father doesn't have to be part of it." He nodded, slowly backing away from Takeru. "I just...I'd rather not have to deal with the look on his face when I tell him I lost over three million dollars in five days. It's a drop in the ocean for him, but...he'd just get upset. He's not much of a poker guy anyway, I don't...I don't want to give him more ammo if I can avoid it."

Takeru nodded. "Alright, see you...tomorrow night. It's over at The Bellarsio, room eighteen oh nine."

"See you then!" Vincent turned around and ran off down the hallway, still seemingly bursting with energy despite the long day.

After the young adult disappeared down a side hall, Takeru just stood there for a few minutes, pursing his lips and nodding his head.

"Wow." He turned back towards the door to the poker room. "This shit's easy." 


	34. Picking Up Equity

Chapter 34: Picking Up Equity

Sorry this update took so long. I had a bunch of stuff happen that kept me busy lately.

OOO

"There's just nothing I can't do right now," Takeru said, sizing up a white pressed shirt in his hands, turning it back and forth in front of him. "It's amazing, really, it's as if the universe is just conspiring for things to go my way."

"Well, you put a lot of effort into things going your way," Hikari replied, waving out a pair of slacks. "Also, I have a feeling you're going to look very strange wearing these."

"I really can't remember the last time I wore something like this when I was meeting someone," Takeru admitted, waving the t-shirt up above his head, pulling it down his body. "It's really a great feeling to wear two thousand dollars suits when you're meeting people, it's so empowering. I feel like I'm about to go to bed."

"I'll have to take your word for it on that one," Hikari replied with a thin smile. "Give me a bathrobe anyday."

"Really, though," Takeru continued. "I don't deserve everything that's happened to me lately. Not just in poker, but...in life. It's just been unreal." He ran his hands down the front of his shirt. "It's all the poker stuff, then there's...there's Daisy. And you."

Hikari shrugged. "Well, who am I?" she said dismissively.

"Hey, you're special. I mean that," Takeru insisted, reaching over and grabbing the casual slacks that Hikari was holding up in front of her. "You don't even know."

"Special?" Hikari repeated, watching him sit down on the edge of the bed. "Maybe to you."

"No, really, you...it's just the luck of the draw with a lot of this stuff." Takeru held the pants up in front of his face. "Really, maybe you don't even want to hear this, but...I can tell, what separates you from someone like...like Daisy, is just where you came from."

"You don't say," Hikari said, stil giving a bit of a thin smile. "Funny how that works out."

"But don't let that stuff get you down," Takeru continued, standing up and brushing the front of his new clothes off. "You're a great person, and meeting you, I'm grateful for that."

"Well, thank you," Hikari replied. "I was right. You...you don't really look very much like...anyone I've ever known in my life."

"That's an interesting point," Takeru admitted, turning towards the full-length mirror on the wall. "For me too, actually, I spend all my time around...rich people and slaves. I didn't even know what the people in the middle wore." He cleared his throat. "Alright, so, this guy, we make him comfortable." He pointed over at Hikari. "You've got one job tonight, make sure he's always got alcohol in front of him."

"What exactly are you hoping to get out of him?" Hikari asked. "I'm not so sure he'll be the wealth of information you're hoping for, just...just doesn't seem like that kind of guy."

"I just want to get him talking," Takeru replied. "Get him feeling good about things, loosen his tongue, just let him...blab on, and hope he has something." He pushed out a deep breath. "You know, I wouldn't be doing this without you."

"Hm?" Hikari looked over at him.

"I mean, this...this is crazy." Takeru let an almost-maniacal grin go to his face. "I was up last night thinking about it, stepping back and just...observing the big picture. I almost, I couldn't even...it was hard to justify it. It's crazy, it really is, I..." he shrugged. "It's you. I just feel like...why not? Why not do something crazy right now? I'm just sure that, one way or another, it'll work out for me."

Hikari gave a small sigh. "Just what I need. More pressure."

Takeru countered with a much larger sigh. "It's probably a bad idea. It's a bad idea, isn't it?" He turned to look at Hikari. "It's stupid, it's...I shouldn't be doing this, I shouldn't be touching this with a thirty-foot pole, right?"

Hikari sat down on the edge of the bed, pursing her lips. "Might not be a good idea to be saying things like that now. Now, after you've already started down this path."

"Yeah, but, really now, be honest with me," Takeru insisted, crossing his arms over his chest. "I...I'm just trying to do the right thing." He shrugged. "I...I'm thinking about my future, my families' future, my dad...he doesn't think he can do anything about it, I'm the only one who has a chance." He gave a small hiss. "I'm just handcuffed to this, I can't...nothing else I can do. I mean, I think."

"You don't have to justify yourself to me," Hikari said.

Takeru grimaced. "But I do have to justify myself to myself." He waggled his eyebrows around before squinting. "It's not easy. And that's a problem."

"Look, Takeru, you're...you're trying to do something good, and...honestly, I think that's good enough on it's own," Hikari replied quickly. "Sometimes, you just do things because it's right. It doesn't always have to be...smart or logical."

"So it's not smart or logical, is what you're saying," Takeru said. "Yeah, I...I was afraid of that."

"I'm not kidding around, actually," Hikari insisted. "I think that, sometimes, you do something because it's right. If you're not willing to do that sometimes, then...well, what's the point? You don't want to inheirit a business that's funding criminals, that's good enough. Don't worry so much about the rest."

"Man, I wish I had your...whatever you would call it, I don't even know." Takeru shook his head. "I keep going back and forth between...thinking I have to do it and knowing that I shouldn't do it. Every few hours I'm on the other side." He pointed over at Hikari. "It really is just you, that's the only...the only reason why I've got the courage to actually take a shot at this." He stood up.

"Whatever you have to tell yourself to go through with it," Hikari said. "Because, like I said...I like it."

"Alright...let's go put on our best performances," Takeru said, straightening his shirt out.

OOO

~Takeru~

"Look, I want to help you, of course," Takeru insisted, as he gently led Vincent over towards the living room area. "I have a father too, we're...we have some things in common, so I get it."

"Yeah, yeah!" Vincent enthused, glancing over towards the center area of the large hotel room, catching a glimpse of Ken and Daisy seated there. "Hey there guys. Yeah, you...you must have had some rough runs at the felt before, you can relate. You've been around for awhile, you must know what it's like to lose a few million pretty quickly."

"Um...well, no, actually," Takeru said awkwardly, sitting down on the vacated couch, beckoning Vincent to join him. He pointed at one of the sealed glass bottles on the coffee table in front of them. "But, I can help you, I...I know enough to know that going to your dad and telling him that you lost three million dollars in five days is...it's not fun. I get that."

"I just want enough to grind for awhile. I'll slow down, make sure it lasts, and if I have to go to my dad in a couple months, that won't be a problem." He reached forward, grabbing the bottle as well as a small metal bottle opener laying down next to it.

"This guy's been running so good lately, it'd be selfish of him to not give back," Ken said, crossing his right leg over his left, leaning back on the plush fat chair. "And that's not like this guy at all, he's...he knows how to take care of people."

"You know, you've really got some game," Daisy said cheerfully. No doubt understanding the purpose of tonight, Daisy had been more than happy to throw on something low-cut. "I think you've got a good grip on the game, really. You just ran into it a few times, don't let it get you down."

"Oh, I'm not down." Vincent took a quick drag from the glass bottle. "Oh, wow, you guys got the good stuff here, very nice. Anyway, I don't let things like this get me down."

"Let's just forget about that for a moment, though," Takeru encouraged. "We'll talk about it later, right now...let's just talk about whatever. I've got food on the way up, let's just try to get to know each other."

"Hey, you don't need to force me," Vincent replied. "You're you, I...I want to get to know you. You're gonna be out of here soon, right?"

"Yeah, tomorrow." Takeru motioned his finger around the circular seating area. "We're gonna hit San Marco, they've got a Sienna Poker Tour event running. And then the premier league starts."

"Man, I wish I had your...your position in life. Everywhere you turn, another tournament, another game, I...I'd trade so much to be where you are."

"And I've got to make a decision on this sponsorship thing," Takeru added. "I think I've negotiated out as much as I'm going to, just gotta pick one. PokerHub, Big Stack Poker, PokerWorld. You know, Vincent, your dad, he's hoping I pick Hub, he's got some sort of stake in—"

"Dude, don't do it, just stay away," Vincent said quickly.

Takeru paused for a moment, blinking a couple times. "I'm sorry?"

"No, look...I mean, I like you, I don't want you to get involved in something bad. Keep this quiet, this is private, but just don't go for Hub, that's my advice."

"Can you expand on that?" Takeru said, sounding rather confused. "It's just, you know, your dad has a stake in it, it's weird you would say that. And Hub has most of the young rising stars right now."

"Yeah, he's got a stake alright," Vincent said, sipping again from the bottle. "More than he probably indicated. The chairman guy at PokerHub, Raymond Paxson? Yeah, him and my dad go way back. My dad got him the position."

Takeru slowly nodded. "Well, that's...interesting."

"My dad has a pretty heavy finger on the scales at PokerHub, that's the only reason he got it." Vincent rolled his eyes. "Again, don't say anything to anyone about this, but...he probably has something on my dad." He gave a little laugh. "You don't have to look too far to get something on my dad, but...maybe he has something real. I don't know, but...I have no idea what he's doing with all that power."

"I don't know very much about Paxson," Ken spoke up. "Seems like he's running a pretty good ship over there, though."

Vincent shook his head. "I'm just saying, I...you know, not many people know this, but he doesn't even have a business credit."

Takeru's forehead wrinkled. "That...that doesn't sound possible, how can he run a company like PokerHub if he doesn't have a business credit?"

"Yeah, exactly. I've been around the guy, he's kind of a doofus, not really someone that...you'd expect at the top of PokerHub." Vincent took another long drag from the bottle. "I could be way off, if you feel strongly about things, do it your way, but...my feeling is that you don't want to get involved with that. I don't see Raymond as a very dependable chairman. I feel like he's gonna screw things up."

Takeru slowly nodded. "Uh...interesting, wow. You'd never guess it." He blinked a few times. "I don't play online, but they've got...Iverson, Koushiro sponsors them, Allen Wright's there...hm."

Vincent shrugged. "I'm just one guy, but...I wouldn't want to deal with that guy."

"Okay, that's...that's interesting." Takeru gave a little chuckle. "W-wait, something on your dad? W-what do you mean by that?"

OOO

"Hey, don't worry, you think...you think my dad's a saint?" Takeru, arm resting on Vincent's back, slowly guided him towards the front door of the hotel room. "I'm really not surprised, most rich people have a few...skeletons in their closet."

"O-o...okay..." Vincent mumbled, stumbling a bit as he grabbed onto the door frame. "I just...I dunno. Sometimes I just start talking and can't stop myself, I feel like I might have said too much tonight."

"No, no, it...forget it," Takeru encouraged. "I don't care, he...your father's a good man, I've met him before, so he's maybe got a bit of a darker side, my dad has his own stuff I know about, it's not a big deal!" He patted him on the back a few times. "Just...forget you told me, I'll probably forget you told me by tomorrow, doesn't matter to me!"

Vincent nodded. "Okay, I...I mean, there's stuff I didn't even talk about. A ton of stuff, actually," Vincent said. "I appreciate you understanding, he...yeah. He wouldn't like me talking about it, although...it probably doesn't even matter to him."

"Okay, the money I gave you, just make it last," Takeru said. "I got no problem helping you out here, but if you call me up in two weeks asking again, I'm not going to be happy with that."

"Hey, really, I appreciate it, you...you didn't have to do it at all. I'll...I'll get you back at some point, one way or another, give me some time, I can pay you back."

Takeru reached forward, grabbing the doorknob and sliding the door open. "Don't worry about it too much, just...be careful. You can get a ride home, right?"

"Uh-huh." Vincent lurched out into the hallway. "Alright, great times tonight, thanks for...for understanding everything."

Takeru, giving a quick nod, closed the door sharply, letting the lock click shut, before turning around towards his companions. "He...he bought all that, right?" he asked, voice soft as he quickly took a series of large strides back towards the center of the large room.

Ken reached underneath the couch, pulling a small, black recording device out from by the right leg. "Can't think of any reason why he wouldn't."

Daisy pointed down at the coffee table, a look of mild disgust on her face. "I have a feeling he would have bought pretty much anything after all this. I'm impressed he was able to walk out of here."

"Yeah, great job on that, Hikari," Takeru said, giving her a thumbs up over towards her, seated on the armrest. "You did exactly what I wanted you to do."

Hikari gave a small little wave. "No problem."

"What a doofus, though," Daisy mused, putting her right hand on her hip. "You ply him a bit, and he'll just blab on and on about anything."

"In fairness, his dad has protected himself so well, he might just think it doesn't matter what he says," Ken pointed out. "And he might be right." He gave the recording device a small shake. "Even this little baby wouldn't put a dent in him if you got it into a courtroom."

"Is it useful, though?" Takeru asked. "Do you think we can use any of it?"

Ken nodded. "It's...it's hard to say right now. Some of the stuff he said about overseas shipments caught my ear, but, you gotta give me some time with this." He nibbled down on the tip of his thumb. "The obvious play is to...get some kind of information we can hold over him, something he doesn't want to get out. I'll look things over."

"What about that stuff about PokerHub?" Takeru wondered out loud. "That was a pretty...interesting nugget."

Ken shrugged. "I don't think we can use it for anything."

"Are you sure he knows what he's talking about?" Daisy asked, scratching the side of her neck. "He calls Ray Paxson a doofus, maybe he should look in a mirror sometime."

Takeru shrugged. "Hey, maybe he'd know a doofus when he sees one better than most." He cleared his throat. "He's right, I don't want to get in with a company that doesn't have good leadership."

"I don't know, man," Ken said. "Hub has a lot of big names, I got to believe that they're doing something right to get guys like Barry Lewis."

"Why would he...why would he badmouth the company that his father has stake in?" Takeru said. "Why would he say that unless he felt strongly about it?"

"Well, which way were you leaning before tonight?" Hikari asked.

Takeru thought for a moment. "I...the offers are all pretty similar, I know that Hub is growing like crazy, I just...honestly, I can't resist. Daniel's the lead sponsor over at Big Stack, I...I just wanna go with him. I know that's not a good reason, but...I can't help myself."

"Just go for it," Daisy insisted. "What difference is it gonna make?"

"Uh, a pretty big one, potentially," Takeru said, raising an eyebrow over at Daisy. "A massive one, possibly."

"Alright." Ken pressed a couple buttons along the side of the device. "Tonight was a good start. I'll mull things over, but we've all got a big day tomorrow." He pointed at Takeru. "And you've got a big decision. So let's leave it for now."

OOO

"All across Sienna, the best poker players in the world get together to play in some of the biggest tournaments in the world! Today, we're coming to you live from San Marco, moments away from the beginning of SPT San Marco, the always prestigious ten thousand dollar buyin event!"

"And by live, of course, we actually mean on a thirty minute delay."

"Oh, good for you."

A massive room was filled with action, people moving around in packs between poker tables.

"The Cabal is packed with people, ready to host this loaded event, every spare piece of real estate re-purposed to host a table of nine players. We're here on table twenty-two, which a very special participant now taking his chair in seat six."

Takeru, brushing his right hand over the front of a dark blue patch on the chest of his blazer jacket, settled down in the chair. "Alright folks. I have officially sold out." The patch contained a multi-colored logo, showing five stacks of chips lined up next to each other, each stack of a different color. A line of text ran along the bottom of the patch, spelling out 'Big Stack Poker'.

"Takeru Ishida, the star of the show over at the world series this year, is about to break his Sienna Poker Tour virginity."

"A lot of people might take a couple months off after running that well in the world series, but Takeru's getting right back on the horse, I love it!"

"They must have really taken care of you," Nelson Mcadoo from seat four said wryly. "Must have been fun, going through all those offers."

"Well, let's just say Big Stack's pitch really moved me," Takeru said. "To a bigger house."

"Takeru is sporting a patch on his jacket, marking him as an official sponsor of Big Stack Poker. Reportedly, he signed the deal with Big Stack earlier today, just before the start of this tournament. He is now a Big Stack Poker Professional."

"Gets paid by Big Stack every time he makes a televised appearance wearing that patch. Does this kid really need MORE money right now?"

"To recap the last few months for Ishida. He won four bracelets and over thirty million dollars across over fifty events at the world series, in his first ever foray into the world of professional poker, mind you. He broke most of the single year records at the world series. Then, he participated in the biggest cash game on the planet last week, and came out over two million dollars in the black. Now, he's trying to add some Sienna Tour feathers into his cap."

"One thousand three hundred entrants in SPT San Marco, and Takeru is one of the most interesting ones in this field, it'll be very interesting to see how his recent success translates on this side of the ocean."

OOO

"I think there's a...perception in the poker world that the players in the Sienna Poker Tour are better than the players at the world series, on the whole. I don't know if it's true, necessarily, but it might be fair to say that SPT fields have fewer weak players. There are fewer amateurs, because the fields are just more intimidating on a per player basis."

Annie Oberstad folded her cards over to the dealer, beckoning Takeru to look down at the king of hearts and jack of spades.

"It's almost a self-fulfilling sort of thing. Fewer amateurs join SPT events, so prize pools are smaller, so it's less appealing for amateur players to try to get lucky since there's less money to win and you're still up against such elite opposition. Also, it's just that SPT events run all year, so people who consistently play in SPT events are the ones who play all year. There are a lot of people who only play professional poker in the world series, so they're taking...ten months off out of the year."

Takeru collected together four black chips and slid the stack forward.

"Meanwhile, Takeru's got king jack offsuit from under the gun plus two, that is a minimum raise to four thousand. Blinds are one thousand and two thousand, ante is three hundred, we've still got about a thousand players remaining in the field."

"Takeru's got about seventy-seven thousand behind, the early position raise should get some respect here."

A series of folds went around the table.

"You just know there's a small, but likely vocal, minority somewhere in the world that is chirping about how Takeru Ishida has proven nothing until he makes noise in the SPT. Don't worry Takeru, as long as you ignore them, they hold no power over you."

"He could retire tomorrow to become a professional juggler and still be a poker legend. Ole Schneider is on the button, it's folded around to him."

Ole had a look down at the queen of spades and seven of hearts.

"He's got what they call the computer hand. Queen seven is often considered to be the most average starting hand in poker. This is probably a fold, maybe a raise if you want to put Takeru to the test."

Ole clattered out nine black chips and a white chip.

"And Ole WILL put Takeru to the test, that is a three-bet to nine thousand one hundred! Three-betting with junk."

"Ole isn't buying the early position raise, he's gonna take a shot. Ole does have over a hundred thousand behind, so Takeru knows that Ole is capable of busting him."

"Both blinds fold, back over to Takeru, he owes another five thousand one hundred."

Takeru blinked a few times, surveying his chips, counting his remaining holdings.

"There's actually some history between these two players, might be motivating this play. Less than a month ago, Schneider had Takeru dead to rights in One Drop, but got bluffed out when Takeru pushed all-in on a straight draw. Schneider busted out soon after and Takeru ended up winning the tournament. Ole might be thinking he wants to show Takeru that the SPT is his realm."

Takeru tossed out five black chips and a white one.

"Takeru, however, makes the call and we've got two to the flop."

"Nobody ever believes button three-bets, especially from a player as capable as Schneider."

The dealer put out the six of hearts, ace of clubs, and jack of hearts.

"Takeru pairs his jack, nothing for Ole. Takeru taps the table a few times, he checks."

"That ace probably concerns Takeru a bit."

Ole, adjusting his sunglasses a bit with his left hand, reached down towards his chips.

"Ole will be continuing here a hundred percent of the time, got to try to bluff at an ace high flop after re-raising preflop."

Ole stacked eight black chips with a white chip and a green chip, pushing the small stack out.

"Eight thousand six hundred from Ole. About a third of the pot. Rather small, but it's fine in a pot that's already this big, particularly given Takeru's stack size."

Takeru inhaled deeply, staring over at Schneider, playing with a couple of his chips.

"No chance Takeru's folding after making a pair."

Takeru nodded, flipping a black chip out past his cards, then reaching down to get the rest of what he owed together.

"He does indeed call. He's got about sixty-three thousand left, the pot is now forty-one thousand chips large. Eighty-nine percent equity for Ishida as well, although he might not know that."

The dealer put out the turn, the seven of spades.

"Well, Ole has made a pair, he now has a pair of sevens."

"He didn't LOSE any equity on that turn. Though he didn't gain any either."

Takeru quickly tapped the felt again.

"That seven might slow the action down. Schneider now has some showdown value in the event that Takeru has a draw, he might not have to bluff anymore."

Ole, however, reached behind his chip stack to get out a purple chip.

"Looks like Ole is just going to stomp right back down on the gas pedal. Despite turning third pair, he realizes that he has to continue bluffing if he wants to win this pot. And Takeru's about to be put in a rather awkward position, he's running out of chips to play with."

Ole pushed out the purple chip with six blacks and one white.

"Sixteen thousand one hundred is the bet."

"That seven of spades on the turn looks like a total brick to Takeru. He must be thinking that if he was ahead on the flop, he's still ahead on this turn. Can't really call on the flop and then fold on a blank turn from a game theory perspective. But if he does make this call, he's definitely hoping that Schneider shuts down on the river. Any reasonable bet from Ole will certainly put Takeru all-in."

Takeru pushed out a full stack of black chips, taking back four off the top, then added one white chip.

"Impressive read so far by Takeru. A lot of players would fold out of fear of getting shoved on on the river."

The river card was slipped out of the deck by the dealer and put down on the board. Nine of hearts.

"Nine of hearts on the river.

"Worst card ever for Takeru."

Takeru tapped the felt a few more times.

"Takeru has checked a third time now. His pair of jacks is still the best hand, but does he know that?"

"Flush draw got there, a couple different straight draws got there, and there's still that ace out there on the flop. If Ole follows through here, I have no idea how Takeru can find a call."

"All-in," Ole said, glancing over towards the dealer.

"And he's done it! Ole has gone all-in, which is actually putting Takeru all-in, for his last forty-seven thousand! The brand new Big Stack Poker Professional now faces a very, VERY tough decision."

Takeru put all of his remaining chips into one tall stack, running his fingers along the stack for a few seconds, thinking.

"It's for Takeru's tournament life, and he's just got second pair. If Ole was semi-bluffing flop and turn, he very likely got there on that river. For Takeru to make this call, he has to put Ole on a complete airball. I don't know if he can do it."

"Your...your all-in just sounded a little subdued," Takeru said suddenly, perking up a bit and looking over at Ole. "But your hand was shaking a bit too."

"Oh boy, is Takeru going to take everyone to school on how to make a physical read at a poker table? He's even talking through it out loud, someone get me a bib, I just love to gobble this stuff up!"

"I don't know." Takeru clapped his hand on the back of his neck. "Your hand starts shaking, makes me think that you're just so happy, because you rivered the flush." He shrugged. "Not really sure."

Ole, remaining quiet, gave Takeru a small smile, which quickly faded away after about two seconds.

"That's a friendly smile," Takeru said. "Friendly smile."

"Okay, so, to recap...subdued announcement of an all-in...hand shaking during said announcement...friendly smile during the interrogation. What does it all mean?"

Takeru looked down at his chips again. "Ace king of hearts. Ace queen of hearts." He raised his eyebrow a bit. "Maybe king queen of hearts. I think that's about it. It's one of those or I'm good."

"Takeru doesn't think Ole gets here with a smaller flush or a straight, he's narrowed his value range down to three hands."

"We're still fairly early in this tournament, a long way away from the money, so ICM isn't nearly as important right now. If anyone in the world can afford to bust out of a ten thousand dollar buyin tournament early, it's Ishida. And if he calls and gets it right, he'll have one of the bigger stacks in the room."

"Call," Takeru said.

"He has done it! Takeru has called!"

"Yeah, you're...you're good, I'm sure," Ole said, flipping over his hand. "Pair of sevens."

Takeru nodded, turning up his two cards. Ole looked over at the pair of cards.

"Nice call," Ole said, a bit of a huff in his voice.

"Nice call? Try sick call. Physical tells exist, I've seen hard evidence of it!"

"Quite a read by the twenty-year-old, managed to put the pieces together. He's now really got some chips to play with."

"I just didn't think you could call with anything except a flush," Ole said, putting most of his remaining chips forward towards the middle of the table.

"Maybe people should stop trying to bluff this kid. He's got some kind of sixth sense to always know where he is."

OOO

"Alright, I call," Takeru announced, standing up from his seat and turning over the ten of clubs and ten of hearts.

"And Takeru finally makes a mis-step, and this one might be fatal! He calls the all-in with pocket tens, and he's well behind!"

Alexi Dimiter turned over the queen of hearts and jack of spades, making top pair on the flop of the queen of diamonds, eight of spades, and seven of diamonds.

Takeru gave a small nod. "There were just so many draws on that board that you'd shove with, I couldn't let it go."

"Takeru has played very well in his first ever Sienna Poker Tour event, making it to the final two hundred, but unless he gets very lucky with this runout, he will be leaving us short of the money."

"I just can't let the big stack push me out of every pot," Takeru added, motioning over towards Alexi. "Sometimes you stand up to the big stack bully, and...and he just punches your nose in, you know?"

"Takeru is looking for a ten. A nine would give him an open-ended straight draw, wouldn't be a terrible card."

The dealer burned a card before putting down the ace of clubs on the turn.

"No straight outs for Takeru on this river. He needs a ten on this river, or else he'll be eliminated from SPT San Marco in one hundred and ninety-first, just a few eliminations away from the money."

"I'm not gonna act like I deserve a two-outer right now," Takeru added. "I'd still appreciate it though. Just saying."

The dealer put out the five of clubs.

"And that will do it for Takeru, that five of clubs will end his run here in San Marco!"

Takeru reached forward, shaking Alexi's hand. "Good playing with you, man, good luck."

"I kind of can't believe you didn't get there," Alexi joked. "I was so sure you were going to backdoor a straight on me, I was already resigned to it."

Takeru shrugged. "I don't always win. Just more than I deserve to."

"I'm sure we'll be seeing him over in Hoffstrat next month. Meanwhile, he's actually going to be participating in the premier league that starts tomorrow, talk about a busy schedule."

Takeru made his way over to the railing, reaching forward to take Hikari's hand, which she had reached out towards him.

"Falling in love with those hero calls?" Hikari raised an eyebrow at Takeru. "Dangerous."

"So I finally made a bad read," Takeru said. "I'm entitled to a bad read every now and then. At least I died on my feet."

"There are probably not very many people in Takeru's life who he cares to listen to when they question his plays, especially right now. But when a woman in your life gives you good luck, that's someone worth listening to."

"Hey, I'm saving myself for the premier league tomorrow," Takeru insisted. "I don't care about this crummy SPT crap, it's all about tomorrow."

"He'll be a great personality for the premier league. Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow, actually."

"Back to table seven, which continues on without Ishida."


	35. Laddering

Chapter 35: Laddering

"For sixteen years now, Poker Forever has entertained the world with their annual production of the Premier League, a gathering of some of the best poker players in the world. Now, tonight, we kick off season seventeen! This year, San Marco will be rolling out the red carpet for our special collection of elite players, some familiar faces, some newcomers. Eighty players enter, ten players make the championship round, and only one can hoist the Premier League trophy!"

"I thought this event was invite only," Scott Trout quipped as he took his seat on the left side of the table, looking down the table. "They let you back in here, Chris? For real?"

A thin, lightly bearded man wearing a brown suit and tie, a few seats over, shrugged. "Well, I mean, I'm currently the most profitable player this year in cash games on PokerHub, so..."

"I'm, I'm pretty sure he's messing with you," Takeru said quietly, settling down into seat five, directly across from the dealer, right by Chris.

Chris Taylor blinked a couple times. "Oh." He looked back over towards Scott. "Are you?"

"Dammit, Takeru, you ruined it!" Scott snapped. "You gotta at least let me...string him along for a bit."

Takeru rolled his eyes. "Sorry."

"There's no other tournament in the world quite like the Premier League. As we wait for the cards to get in the air, let's discuss the format of the Premier League. Jesse?"

"Alright, so, we've had a couple minor adjustments this year. The Premier League consists of eighty players, all of whom were invited by Marty Miles, tournament director. Each player has bought in for one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, which makes this tournament officially a super high roller event. The league consists of a series of sit and go tables, also called heats. For each heat, eight players sit down at a poker table and battle it out. The first player to get knocked out of a heat earns the dreaded bagel, or zero points. Next out gets one point. Sixth place takes home three points. It continues to ladder, up to first place, which walks away with a full fourteen points. Each player gets to play in a total of four heats. At the end of the league, the points are tallied. Each player earns one thousand dollars for every point they have. Furthermore, the top eight point finishers are given seats at the final table. Ninth place and twelfth place play heads up for the ninth seat, and tenth place and eleventh place duke it out for the final spot. At the final table, the players play for the remaining money in the prize pool, with payouts laddering up. First place is guaranteed a million and a half this year."

"Alright, folks, let's get it started," the dealer announced, drawing the attention of all eight players. "One thousand two thousand blinds, five hundred ante, please."

The dealer scrambled the deck around as each player took out a couple chips from their stacks and tossed them forward.

"So...basically, the prize pool after the rake is nine million. Four million of that is for paying players for the points they earn, and the other five million gets divided up among the final table. Pretty interesting format, no other poker tournament in the world does things like this."

The cards were dealt out quickly to each player, starting with Chris in seat six, who folded queen seven offsuit.

"And we are underway here at heat one of Premier League Seventeen. Each player starts with three hundred thousand chips, blind levels last twenty-one hands."

"Many, many angles to consider here in this league that you never have to consider in other tournaments, so you will eventually see players do things in a very unconventional manner because of the format. This...this first heat, maybe not so much, but the strategy and dynamic that picks up in the later heats is really something. You'll see players fold premium hands just to try to survive one more spot to pick up a couple more points, you'll see players...ripping all-in for thirty blinds with hands like ace jack to capture fold equity, that kind of stuff."

Jeff Morgan, from seat one, began to look over his chip holdings.

"Yeah, this first heat, players can kind of just play normally, less complex stuff to think about for the moment, but...later on, it's going to be very interesting. Jeff Morgan looks like he wants to open our first pot here, he's trying to make sure he understands the chip colors. Little different here."

Jeff finally tossed out a collection of five blue chips and a green chip.

"That's a raise to five point and a half thousand from Jeff in...semi-late position, he's got...jack nine offsuit. One last consideration here, point totals also dictate your starting stack size at the final table. The player that comes in first will start with far more chips than the players who get into the final table by way of the heads up playoff. So every point counts in more ways than one."

With a couple more players folding, Takeru finally looked down to consider defending his big blind. King of spades, ace of hearts.

"Oooh, he's gonna get some action. Takeru Ishida, the...The Prince of Poker, is in the big blind with an offsuit ace king."

"The Prince of Poker? Really?"

"Well, it...it wasn't me who came up with it, that's what the...the nickname that people online are starting to give him."

"Okay, because, I guess, he's really really good, but...he can't be a King, because he's too young, so they go with Prince instead. Okay, maybe it works."

"Plus, he's the heir to his father's casino, so there's a little bit of a...Prince thing going on there as well. I don't know, I think it has some play."

Takeru looked up at the dealer. "Three and a half more to me, right?" Getting a nod, Takeru tossed out three blue chips and a green chip.

"What a...what a run this Ishida kid is on right now. He actually played in his first ever Sienna Poker Tour event just before this. Played well, but did not cash. Basically the worst thing that's happened to him on the felt in months. How's he gonna adjust to the format?"

"Kind of surprised he's just calling. He's out of position now, he's going to miss the flop a lot, is he just going to check-fold if he misses?"

The dealer whisked down the king of hearts, five of spades, and queen of hearts.

"Well, he didn't miss, so it won't end up mattering, but...having the chips in this format is just so valuable, you really don't want to get short-stacked early on and risk bageling, you want to...make sure you maintain a viable stack so you can consistently give yourself a chance to ladder up in points. It's really hard to come back from getting a zero, one, or even a three. So it might just be pot control just in case Jeff actually had a big hand there."

Takeru checked, tapping the felt a few times.

"Top pair, top kicker for Takeru. Jeff's got a gutshot straight draw, needs a ten. Both players have backdoor heart draws, but Takeru's got the ace of hearts."

"Eight and a half," Jeff said, tossing out one yellow chip.

"Continuation bet semi-bluff from Morgan. Takeru's certainly not folding."

Takeru tossed out a yellow chip as well. The dealer quickly got each of them a blue chip and green chip back, then burned and turned the ace of clubs.

"Takeru's turned two pair now, Jeff can still get there with a ten on the river if we get that far."

"Y'know, this...this could be really bad for Jeff if Takeru checks here, he might think that's a good card for him to continue bluffing with."

Takeru reached his hand over towards his chipstack.

"Jeff might get saved here, Takeru looks like he's plotting a bet. Kind of surprised he's betting here, he had such a nice trap set for Morgan."

Takeru put out a yellow chip and a black chip, reaching into the pot and taking one green chip back.

"Fourteen thousand five hundred, and...that should be it for this hand. This is just, this is the problem with playing out of position. If Takeru checks, he risks Jeff checking behind, and then Jeff gets a free card to try to hit his hand, and if he misses he's not paying you off anyway, so...I think it's a good bet."

"Sure, it's just...with the hand that Jeff has, I think he probably bets there, so it's just kind of a missed opportunity."

Jeff folded his cards over to the dealer.

"Yeah, it's way too early to try to make a move in that spot. He could try to represent jack ten and raise, but...you really don't want to make a big move early in your first heat and end up getting caught. It puts you in a terrible position."

OOO

"Well, yeah, I'm obviously jealous," Chris said flatly. "Are you not?"

"W-w-wait, Chris, you don't...you don't have a girlfriend right now?" Scott asked, leaning his head over and looking down the table.

"...no, but, what does that have to do with anything?" He turned towards the bleacher seating behind him and gestured over towards Daisy. "She's beautiful, and of course I'm jealous that Takeru's dating her. I mean obviously I would be, even if I did have a girlfriend."

Scott, suppressing laughter, craned his head up to look over at Chris. "Yeah, okay, but...you, you wouldn't actually *say* that if you did have a girlfriend, right?"

Chris's face scrunched up a bit. "I mean, why wouldn't I? It would still be true."

Scott gave a series of chortles, turning away from Chris as Takeru folded his hand. Chris shrugged, looking down at his cards.

"Heh heh, uh...some things don't change. A new season of the Premier League, and Scott Trout and Chris Taylor still have that...semi-adversarial relationship from two seasons ago. I don't know how much of it is just...put on for television, but I just get the sense that they don't like each other very much. Scott, of course, won the Premier League two seasons ago, Chris finishing in second. They went at it a bit last season, and more of the same this time around."

Chris put out a yellow chip past his cards.

"Chris, he's...he's really just so great, he...he just lets it all out there. He always speaks the truth no matter what, he's really a nice guy, you just have to...understand his mentality."

"I can vouch for that, Chris will ALWAYS tell you the truth. Unless you ask him what his cards are, I guess. But yeah, he's...he's a great character for this Premier League, he's one of a kind."

Everyone quickly folded around to the big blind, Eric Anderson, who looked down at his cards.

"Eric only needs six thousand to make this call and defend his big blind, he's got...ten nine of spades."

"Hands like this just...they aren't as good in this format, especially heads up, but...I think he's gonna call this. What does, what does Chris have?"

"Chris has pocket sixes, and...he will be in position to the flop, as Eric Anderson has called."

Takeru got to his feet, looking down at Chris. "What, there aren't...dozens of girls clawing all over you in Panok? You gotta be getting all kinds of attention when you show up with a couple million in a luggage cart."

Chris scratched the side of his head. "A lot of people said it would be like that, but...not really."

"Well, keep at it, you'll, uh...you'll find your special someone." Takeru slowly walked over towards the bleacher seating behind the table, hands up behind his head as he stretched out a bit.

"Takeru going to stretch his legs a bit. Uh, of course, that little conversation started over Takeru's girlfriend, Daisy Scott, a very capable professional poker player in her own right, who is in attendance."

"He said he thinks you're beautiful," Takeru said casually as he went up to the railing.

"Well, I am, so...yeah," Daisy said with a shrug.

"Daisy Scott was actually invited to play in this year's Premier League, a very rare instance in which an invitation was extended to a poker player who hasn't yet won a world series bracelet, tour title, and has no presence in nosebleed stakes cash games."

"The flop is...two of hearts, seven of clubs, queen of spades. Eric has missed, he checks."

"Can't lie, I've always wanted to meet the guy," Ken muttered. "He's, he might actually be more of a fascinating character than Koushiro."

"Kinda cute, too," Daisy said wryly.

"Yeah, Daisy...she doesn't have the big time credentials yet, but the Premier League has always been about the personalities as much as anything, and for obvious reasons, someone like Daisy would be great for this league. She, uh, she declined the invitation, actually, citing concerns about her understanding of the format."

"Chris bets out fifteen thousand, and Eric quickly folds, Chris takes it."

"You might be in trouble, TK," Ken said. "We all know Daisy has a thing for online poker wizards with limited social skills."

"Well, I agree, he is cute," Takeru said jokingly. "So I couldn't blame her if she decided to get an upgrade." He turned his head over his shoulder. "Deal me in, please!" he said, then turning back to his group of friends.

"Ken, on the other hand, Takeru's other friend...he'll have a crack at it in heat number six coming up in a few weeks."

"Let's get a third opinion, Hikari," Takeru said, looking over at her now. "Seat six, kinda cute?"

Hikari raised an eyebrow, glancing over Takeru's shoulder, then leaning in close to him. "Uh..." She lowered her voice as much as she could. "Is he...is he okay?"

Takeru reached up to cover the small microphone on the lapel of his jacket with his palm, leaning in towards Hikari.

"Chris, uh...he has been diagnosed officially with some form of autism, so...there is a medical explanation for some of his unconventional behaviors."

"It's also a medical explanation for his absolutely amazing brain that has made him one of the most successful online poker players ever."

"Alright, see you guys later," Takeru said quickly, retreating back towards the table.

"Yeah, Chris, the way he looks at things...it just allows him to process information so quickly, and his...his knowledge of poker theories and the charts, it really is something special. He's got a lot in common with...Prodigious, actually."

Takeru took his seat again as the cards were sent out to each player.

"So far this year, nobody has made more money at cash games on PokerHub than Chris Taylor. That's right, he's made more than Prodigious himself."

"Obviously, a big part of that was that Prodigious played in the world series, Chris did not, but regardless, it's...quite an achievement. Anyway, Takeru is under the gun here, looking down at his cards."

Takeru pried up the corners on the ace of diamonds and ace of hearts.

"That's quite a...quite a good way to return to the table after a short break. Aces under the gun."

Takeru grabbed one yellow chip. "Nine thousand," he said as he tossed the chip forward.

"Blinds are two and four thousand, he makes it nine thousand. Will he pick up any customers?"

"We're actually getting quite close to...we're closing in on the point where we're going to see some big confrontations between these players, when the blinds get up to six thousand, players start trying to make moves, there's a lot more in the middle on every hand, it'll...it'll really start to pick up. Right now, everyone's just taking it easy, not wanting to get into a massive confrontation, but it's about to change."

Chris looked down at two red nines.

"Under the gun plus one...Chris has pocket nines. Takeru's got one customer at least."

Chris threw out one yellow chip.

"Yeah, he's just calling here, this hand is too strong to raise. If he had something like...two fives or two sixes, he'd probably re-raise, but this hand, it's just too good to do that, you don't want to re-raise and then have to fold to a four-bet, it's too good of a hand."

After two folds, Robert Quinn looked down at the two of diamonds and two of clubs.

"Okay, so...Quinn's calling, and if the flop has a nine or a deuce, it's gonna be a huge pot. Wow."

After a moment, Scott Trout, on action reaching him, looked down at the king of diamonds and ten of spades.

"Oh man, Takeru is hating life right now, he's gonna have...at least three customers to the flop, probably four, Scott is definitely calling here, and then Michael Diaz in the big blind almost has to call."

"Should he, though? King ten offsuit, kind of a...kind of a hand that gets you in trouble."

"He's in the small blind, he's getting a discount, the pot odds are insane, he's gotta at least see a flop. Yeah, Takeru does NOT like all this action, the odds are just way too good that someone cracks you. This, uh...we usually don't lose players in the first two blind levels of the Premier League, but if the flop comes out right here, we might just see a quick elimination."

Michael Diaz watched Trout throw in seven thousand in chips, then looked down at jack nine of spades.

"Wow, yeah, he's definitely calling, he...five thousand more into a pot of forty-four thousand, this is actually a really nice hand for a spot like this."

Diaz reached down towards his chip stacks, playing with a few yellow ones.

"Oh, oh no, is he...is he thinking about putting on the squeeze? If he tries to squeeze, Takeru's going to punish him, I think he's...I think he's clever enough to just call."

Diaz finally just flipped out one black chip.

"Okay, phew, he just calls. Takeru was mentally PRAYING that Michael was going to squeeze there, gives him a chance to get out of danger here with a four-bet, now he hates life."

"Five players to this flop, Takeru's aces will hold up fifty-one percent of the time."

"The problem is, the other forty-nine percent of the time...he's liable to lose a LOT of chips."

The dealer put down the five of diamonds, four of hearts, and ten of clubs.

"Wow, safe flop, uh...everyone's missed except for Scott, Scott's made top pair with the king kicker, but he's still way behind. Takeru dodges some pretty serious danger, I think he can get this to heads up now."

Scott slowly reached down towards his chips.

"Yeah, Scott's gonna lead out here, it looks like, and it kind of makes sense because...if Takeru had a hand like ace king or ace queen, he kind of can't do anything except fold because of all the people behind him. It's actually really hard for anyone to call because of the players to act behind."

Diaz folded after Scott put out two yellows, two blues, and a green, putting action to Takeru, who carefully contemplated his move.

"Yeah, Scott's bet might seem like an amateur move, but really, given that it's a five-way pot, he just has to bet after making top pair, he's got to clear out all the random hands that missed that could bink the turn or river. Unfortunately, he's betting into Takeru's aces, so it's not going to work out for him. As for Takeru, it's not obvious what he should do here, between raising and calling. It's a good flop for him, but...someone COULD have a set, that's the main concern he has right now."

Takeru put out five chips, matching Scott's wager.

"And he's just gonna call the twenty-two thousand five hundred, so...this is nice, he's under-representing himself, that might pay off later. Chris Taylor quickly folds, gets away from the pocket nines, nice fold actually."

"Yeah, nice fold, but obviously a correct fold in this format."

Quinn followed with a fold of his pocket twos. With the hand cleared out, down to two players, the dealer turned over the seven of diamonds.

"Okay, so...eight six just made a straight. Seven six is now a pair and an open-ended straight draw. Those kinds of hands are probably the hands that Scott is putting Takeru on right now, he's...I don't think he's putting him on aces, but that seven might be a bit of a scare card, might help him get away from this."

Scott checked.

"If Scott doesn't lose any more chips in this hand, I'll be impressed."

Quickly, Takeru put out six yellow chips and a black chip.

"Sixty-five thousand is the bet. You know, Scott has a good hand, but he can't feel tremendous about it. If he had, say, king ten of diamonds, then he has top pair and a flush draw, that's totally different, this is...what are you beating right now except for seven six? Is Takeru just going nuts with ace three? Probably not, it's too early for that sort of thing."

Scott folded his cards back to the dealer.

"Wow, that's...that's a very nice fold, very disciplined."

Takeru nodded, tossing his cards over towards the dealer and taking in the pot of nearly one hundred and sixty thousand chips.

"Meanwhile, Takeru does take in a nice pot, he's looking good so far in his first ever Premier League heat."

OOO

"Have fun, everyone," Robert Quinn said over his shoulder, giving a quick wave as he headed over towards the tunnel over towards the right side of the room.

"First casuality of the Premier League heat one, Robert Quinn exits with the bagel. All seven remaining players guaranteed at least one point."

"He died with his boots on," Takeru murmured. "I thought it was a great bluff, hell of a call," he added, glancing over towards Michael. "Great call."

"I'm not so sure," Michael replied as the cards were dealt out. "Correct call. Not so sure it's a good call."

"I have a huge weakness for hero calls," Takeru admitted, putting out six blue chips for his big blind, Chris folding his cards over to the dealer.

"And, now that we're up to three and six blinds, we are going to see some bigger confrontations, and players will be playing for stacks before long."

Folds quickly proceeded around the table.

"Average stack is less than three hundred and fifty thousand, or less than sixty big blinds, so the right situation can definitely get someone to get their entire stack in. And now, now that the blinds are bigger, it makes a little more sense to try to make moves, to bluff, to...to semi-bluff, to get a bigger percentage of your stack in, because if you don't start taking some chances, you're just going to get blinded out anyway."

"Still an intimidating prospect to take chances right now, ending with one point isn't really much better than the bagel. Yeah, it folded all the way around to the button, and Scott folded a junk hand, in a normal poker tournament, he's raising with any two cards there. He just doesn't want to get involved and risk chips yet."

Michael Diaz looked down at the eight of hearts and eight of spades.

"Small blind, Michael's got two eights, he's currently the biggest stack in the room. He's looking over at Takeru Ishida in the big blind, who has the second biggest stack."

Michael scattered three blue chips past his cards.

"Wow, he's just limping in with two eights, that's...highly unusual."

"Yeah, I don't like it at all, doesn't make any sense to me. It's not like he's a short stack and needs to preserve his chips, and eights isn't a good enough hand to trap with."

Takeru rapped his knuckles on the felt with the ace of diamonds and seven of hearts.

"Yeah, Takeru would have definitely folded if Michael made a standard raise, and picking up blinds and antes is pretty good, so it's not like there's nothing out there to win, the pot is seventeen thousand. Now you're out of position with a middle pair, you have no idea what Takeru has, it's just kind of a weird play."

The dealer put down the seven of clubs, two of clubs, and seven of spades.

"Oh, whoa, here we go! This could end up being a big pot. Takeru's got basically the nuts, and Diaz has to love his hand on this flop, this could get ugly."

Michael blinked a few times, then tossed out six blue chips along with a green chip.

"About one third the pot from Diaz, this...the preflop limp really makes this hand kind of weird. What do you put Michael on if you're Takeru?"

Takeru turned his head over towards Michael, glaring at him intensely.

"Probably some kind of...small suited connectors that he doesn't want to raise and get re-raised with, like five four or six five. Takeru is hoping he's got seven six or eight seven, that's possible. He could obviously have clubs, be on the flush draw."

"If he was trapping with a big pocket pair, he wouldn't bet out here, so that seems to be off the table. As it turns out, he tried...I guess trapping with a middle pair, which is sort of an odd strategy. So, raise or call?"

Takeru put out six blue chips and a green chip, dropping the chips off into the pot.

"He's just going to call, which I like. Diaz, you know, he's a smart player, he knows that Takeru can have literally anything here, so it's not like he doesn't have a seven in his range, he has...he has everything in his range. So Michael could maybe fold if Takeru raises, so I like this, now it looks like he could have some...some ace-high hands. Obviously, Takeru can't know that Michael has a hand as strong as two eights, if he knew that he'd raise, Michael can't fold on this flop with two eights."

An eight of diamonds came on the turn.

"Oh, whoooaaaa, and...okay, now it's completely flipped, now Takeru's the one who can't go anywhere, that eight is a total brick in his mind ninety percent of the time. Now, how does Michael play his boat?"

Diaz tapped the felt a couple times.

"Oh, if only he knew, if only he knew how strong a hand Takeru had, he'd get so many chips here, but...I mean, you don't want to blow him off a flush draw, you want to give him a chance to stab with it, you want to give him a chance to stab at it with an ace high too. Okay, pot size is thirty-three thousand, gotta believe Takeru's going to value bet here, he's got to protect against a flush...how much trouble is he about to get into?"

Takeru grabbed two yellow chips and three blue ones, flipping them out.

"Seventy percent of the pot, that's designed to get rid of flush draws, or maybe induce a big raise from a flush draw that he'll snap-call. Again, if Michael knew how strong Takeru was, I think he'd get all his chips right here."

After a moment, Michael matched the bet, throwing out five chips.

"Yeah, he's just calling, it's...it's the right move, but against this particular hand, man, a raise would have gotten action for sure."

"Seventy-nine thousand in the middle, Takeru has about three hundred and fifty thousand back...how much is he going to lose here? Is the four-time bracelet winner good enough to get off trip sevens in this spot?"

"If the river card is an ace, I think he's going broke. ESPECIALLY if it's the ace of clubs. But, he might just get off the hook here if the river is a club that isn't an ace. If it's a brick, then maybe he'll only lose a hundred thousand, maybe one twenty, he MIGHT be able to put Michael on eight seven specifically."

The dealer slapped down the five of clubs.

"Oooh, perfect, PERFECT, that river card just saved Takeru's heat, it might have saved his whole Premier League, wow!"

Again, Michael Diaz tapped the table a few times with his fingers.

"Michael with the check, he's just praying that Takeru has a flush. Is there any way that Takeru checks behind with the trip sevens now that the flush came in?"

"If he does check behind, then we've got to update his nickname, that would be a move worthy of only a King. I don't think he's checking, but the important thing is, when the raise comes in, he can save himself."

Takeru reached his hands down towards his chips.

"Yeah, he's got to bet after Michael checks, when Michael checks, it kind of looks like he might have the other seven, like seven six or seven nine, and he's checking to call, and Takeru has to get value out of that."

Takeru took five yellows and nine blues forward, making a fifty-nine thousand chip bet.

"Yeah, he's betting, and he's betting pretty big, three-quarters the pot, which is going to help him in a moment here. I mean, if that river card wasn't a club, his ace seven just looks so strong, he's never getting off it, but...now, he doesn't beat anything that Michael is raising with, so he can get away now."

"One hundred and fifty more," Michael announced. Immediately, Takeru took his cards and slid them over towards the dealer.

"Wow, snap-fold! Takeru is here to play! He didn't waste a second in mucking there!"

"Yeah, especially when the bet is that big, it's just...what are you beating besides a bluff? Most of the semi-bluffs are club draws, and the club draws got there on the river, it's...it's not a fun fold, but it's a necessary fold."

"If you folded a flush just now, that's one of the most wizard folds I've ever seen in my life," Michael said as he took in the large pot of chips. "I actually would have kind of liked to have seen what you folded."

"No," Takeru replied, shaking his head, leaning back to take a sip of water from his bottle. "I didn't have a flush. Sevens full."

Michael gave a little laugh. "Yeah, I'm not buying that one, nice try."

"Okay, fine, you caught me," Takeru said dryly. "I folded a straight flush."

"I don't think there was a straight flush possible on that board," Chris chimed in, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, there...there wasn't."

OOO

"Hey, I can personally attest to that, I know from experience." Takeru turned his body and gestured over towards the seats behind him, towards Daisy. "She doesn't have the trifecta in her. She can't do it." He held his right hand up, sticking the thumb out. "Modeling? Absolutely. Acting? Sure thing. Singing?" He made a raspberry noise with his tongue. "Nuh-uh, no way. Forget it. No good."

"Since when has a lack of singing ability kept young actresses and models from taking up singing side projects?" Scott pointed out. "None of them can sing, doesn't matter. They have equipment that takes care of that. Come on, she's gotta drop an album at some point, that's just...the way it's supposed to go."

"There's no equipment in the world that can save her," Takeru insisted, turning back towards the rail. "Hey, Daisy, prove my point, give me a few verses of something. Nice and loud, so everyone can hear it."

Daisy, giving a sly smile, turned her head over her right shoulder, lifting her right hand up and extending her middle finger up towards Takeru.

"Ahhh...the banter of the Premier League, it's...it's just got this playground environment that you don't typically see in some other tournaments."

Takeru turned back towards the table, grinning. "She doesn't need to take up singing, she's...she's busy enough."

"Somehow, the topic of conversation keeps ending up on Takeru's girlfriend. Guess it's not hard to guess why."

After witnesses a flurry of folding, Takeru leaned down to take a look at his cards.

"Down to six players here in heat one, Jeff Morgan departed a few hands ago with one point. Next player out gets three, and...oooh, Takeru's got two queens in the cutoff."

Takeru slid the queen of clubs and queen of hearts onto the spot on the felt right in front of him, looking down at his chips.

"Good timing, Takeru's got...four hundred thousand back, blinds are six and twelve, so like thirty three bigs. He's got right around the average stack, so he needs to do something to separate himself from the bunch."

Takeru put out two yellow chips with four blue ones.

"Twenty-four thousand, that is a min-raise of the big blind, Takeru wants action from one of the three players left in the hand."

Chris glanced down at his cards before folding, leaving Fillipo Rossi to consider jack nine of diamonds.

"Maybe Fillipo will get involved here in the small blind, he's got...about five hundred thousand to play with."

"The silent assassin over in seat seven, Fillipo...he plays tight, he doesn't get involved often, he just stays quiet, and then, every now and then, he gets in a pot, and he's raking chips, and before you know it, he's there at the end and everyone's wondering how."

Rossi began to build a small tower of chips.

"If Fillipo wants to play this hand from out of position, which he will be if he gets involved, he probably wants to do it with the betting lead. He likes to be aggressive when he chooses to enter pots anyway. But it'd be bad timing, Takeru could easily re-raise when it gets back to him."

Rossi pushed out six yellow chips.

"There is a raise to sixty thousand, and that should get Rossi in some real trouble here."

With the big blind folding, Takeru took back his four blue chips and put out four yellows.

"Or...maybe not, Takeru elects to just flat the extra thirty-six thousand. Looks like he's setting a trap. Could get him into trouble, but Takeru wants to try to see if he can get a full double up out of Fillipo. One hundred and eight thousand in the middle."

The dealer put down the jack of spades, ten of spades, and seven of clubs.

"And the trap is going to work beautifully! Rossi has made top pair and has a gutshot straight draw, so he's certainly not going anywhere, and Takeru is still leading with his pocket queens!"

Rossi, with little hesitation, put out five yellow chips from one of his large stacks.

"Fifty thousand from the high roller specialist, a bit less than half the pot. Takeru has a three hundred and forty thousand behind, has to choose between calling and raising."

Takeru flipped out five chips as well.

"He just calls, which I think is fine as long as he's prepared to play for stacks later on and live with the results. Two hundred and eight thousand in the middle."

"Yeah, this play, it's not typically what you see from the Premier League, this is...maybe this is just Takeru's traditional tournament experience making an appearance. The Premier League tends to be all about capturing fold equity, and Takeru is instead playing for maximum chips, which...this is the first heat, so it's fine, but most players would have gone all-in by now to force Fillipo out."

The six of spades appeared on the turn.

"That card might slam the brakes on this hand, third spade on the board. Both players might think the other could have just made the flush."

"Both players would be drawing dead against a flush."

Rossi checked slowly, tapping the felt. Takeru took the opportunity to cut out a half-stack of yellow chips and flip it forward into the pot.

"Takeru's foot opts for the gas pedal, however, he bets a hundred thousand. And unfortunately for Rossi, his hand is just good enough to where he MIGHT talk himself into a call here."

Rossi looked back down at his hand, then over to his chips.

"I mean, how often does Takeru just call with a flush draw on the flop when Fillipo continuation bets? That's got to be what he's thinking, right? Sure, he obviously does it some of the time, but he probably usually raises, so...he usually doesn't have the flush. That's got to be what he's telling himself right now to make this call."

Rossi pushed out the hundred thousand in chips.

"Takeru is the effective stack with one hundred and ninety thousand behind, the pot is four hundred and eight thousand. This hand, this hand is going to go a LONG way in deciding the results of this first heat."

The river card was the eight of clubs.

"Ooof, tough luck for Ishida, Fillipo Rossi has rivered a straight and now has the best hand! This spells disaster for Takeru!"

Rossi began to count out an array of chips.

"He's reaching to make a value bet. You figure he's just going to put Takeru all-in, he's only got less than half-pot back."

Fillipo, after a few seconds of consideration, pushed out eight yellow chips.

"Well...this is weird. Rossi bets eighty thousand on the river, smaller than the bet Takeru made on the turn, leaving Takeru with one hundred and ten thousand chips behind if he calls and loses. Very interesting line."

Takeru looked over at the small stack of chips that Fillipo had just sent out.

"Yeah, I...I kind of like it, he's giving Takeru an incredibly good price to call, he's making it super hard for Takeru to not call with just about anything here just because of the price. With the way this board has run out, it's so hard to get value out of worse hands, so he's just trying to get thin value out of two pair or overpairs, I think."

Takeru looked down at what was left of his chips.

"But Takeru's...he's got to realize he's no good here, right? Look at the board, it's...kind of a terrible runout. Straights, flushes, it's all out there. He can save like sixteen big blinds by mucking this, he's gotta do it."

Takeru began to spread out his chips into smaller towers, counting out what he still had.

"Is it possible he says to himself...this guy is bluffing like...twenty percent of the time, and my queens beat all the bluffs, so I'm getting just the right price to call and hope he's got...like, the naked ace of spades or something? He's got showdown value."

"I'm all-in," Takeru announced.

"Wow! Takeru shoves his last one hundred and ten thousand over the top, and he is now just one word away from being knocked out of this heat in sixth! And make no mistake, despite the fact that he's holding queens, this is most certainly a bluff!"

Fillipo pursed his lips, pushing his knuckles into his cheek as he thought. "I was afraid of that."

"Wow, this...now it's going the other way, now it's Fillipo who is getting this crazy good price to call, he's got to call another...one hundred and ten thousand into a pot of over half a million, I'm not sure he can fold a straight for that much more!"

Fillipo looked over at Takeru, eyes downcast a bit. "Wow."

"I mean...that makes Takeru's hand look even stronger though, doesn't it? He's shoving here in a situation where Fillipo looks unbluffable because of the price, which makes it look like he can't possibly be bluffing! Talk about a levelling war!"

Rossi glanced back down at his cards. "Should have just folded the damn turn, now I...I don't know what to do."

"So...since Rossi check-called the turn, Takeru must figure he can't possibly have the flush, since he'd be missing out on so much value, so he...he figures he can represent the flush, and that Rossi can't call without a flush himself? I guess that must be it, and...wow, I'm not sure what Fillipo's going to do, I...calling with a straight and losing to a flush just makes you feel like a complete donkey, that...that's part of it, right? Just, the egg on your face when you call even though it seems obvious you're behind?"

"I...look, if you're going to make such a tiny river bet, I just feel like you have to be prepared to call a raise, otherwise it's just a horrible plan, it's...it seems so exploitable."

"Good hand." Rossi slid his cards over to the muck.

"AND HE GOT HIM OFF IT! Takeru got Fillipo Rossi to lay down a straight despite giving him an INSANE price! Wow! Premier League, meet Takeru Ishida!"

Takeru slid his cards towards the dealer, flipping them face up as he did so. "Not a very good hand with that river, actually."

The table erupted into a cacophony of gasps and shouts, players jumping to their feet and clapping.

"And there it is, he shows the bluff! Takeru turned pocket queens into a bluff on the river, and takes in a BIG pot, and he's now our heat one chip leader! What a play!"

OOO

"Hey, don't even try to bring that mess over here," Takeru said, shaking his head as Scott got to his feet. "Come on, Scott, you know better than that, I don't only win when I have big hands." He pointed his thumb over towards his left. "Did you not see me turn queens into a bluff a couple hours ago?"

"Come on, you just won four world series bracelets in two months, I have to get a needle in on you somewhere," Scott protested, reaching down underneath his chair and picking up his bag. "Do you have any idea what I'd do just to win TWO bracelets in one year?" He reached over towards Takeru, Takeru extending his hand out and shaking it. "Come on, when you run that hot, I'm allowed a couple card rack cracks."

"I was definitely a card rack when I won my first bracelet," Takeru admitted. "I'll give you that much. Good playing with you."

"See you round, nice playing with you all," Scott said, departing towards the exit tunnel on the right side of the room.

"And Scott Trout has been eliminated in fourth place, he picks up seven points. We're down to the final three. Eric Anderson plowing ahead with nearly one point one million in chips, Michael Diaz not too far behind with about eight hundred thousand, and you can't count out Takeru Ishida, though he is the short stack with a bit over half a million."

"What are the antes again?" Takeru asked, putting two yellow chips and four blue ones out in front of him. "Four thousand?" He put out four more blues.

"After Takeru puts in his big blind here, he'll have right around...twenty-one big blinds back, so he's basically just got to find a good hand and commit himself with it. Is it fold-or-shove yet for the kid?"

Anderson had a look down at the king of diamonds and king of clubs.

"I think if he gets a true monster, like...say, speaking of monsters, E-Dog's got a monster, this could be big trouble for Michael or Takeru...but if Takeru gets queens, kings, or aces, I think making standard raises and trying to induce action is fine. Anything else good, I'd just rip it all-in immediately and capture fold equity."

Eric fired out seven yellow chips, right by the white circular button icon the dealer had put in front of him.

"Seventy thousand is the raise, now...Eric's the chip leader, so he could be raising wide here, but...he's not an overwhelming chip leader, so maybe these two can detect danger?"

Michael Diaz glanced down at nine four of spades, quickly folding, leaving action on Takeru.

"I think it's safe to assume that Eric has something playable when he takes this line, making it a bit less than three times the big blind, but...oh boy."

Takeru peered down at the ace of diamonds and ten of hearts.

"And this should be it for Takeru right here. Offsuit ace ten, this is a great hand to just rip it with, I got to believe that he's just gonna go with it, I...okay, he'll be drawing live, it's not over, but...he'll be well behind."

Takeru raised his glare over towards Eric, pondering his move.

"Is there...is there any chance he just flats this and check-folds the flop if he misses? He can do that and preserve over four hundred and fifty thousand chips, that's...that's playable. Third place gets nine points, second gets eleven, isn't there value in making sure you preserve some chips to give yourself a chance at laddering?"

"If his hand was just a little bit better, I'd say maybe he just calls. Like, if this was just suited, or maybe if it was ace queen, he could just call, maybe, but ace ten offsuit is a hand you want to have massive fold equity with. You miss the flop too often, you end up with a mediocre ace high about half the time, and...if your opponent has a hand like pocket sevens, pocket sixes, king jack, you just want the hand to be over without showdown. If Eric has a hand like that, he just has to fold when you shove for half a million here, and that's what Takeru wants, his hand isn't good enough to comfortably play out of position."

"All-in," Takeru said softly.

"Call," Eric said immediately. Takeru squeezed his eyes shut, holding them closed for a moment.

"And there it is! Takeru's at risk, and he's well behind!"

"Really hope it's kings," Takeru said, turning over his ace ten. His hopes were realized when Eric showed his cards. "Okay, it's not a total disaster."

"That's the spirit, young Prince! All he needs is an ace to take the lead, it's not over yet."

Takeru got to his feet, turning his head over his right shoulder. "If I just start walking towards the exit now, I think I can squeeze out an extra few percentage points of equity." Despite his joking comments, he turned towards the table. "I'll do it if I'm not there yet on the river, I need to save it for desperate times."

"Flop is coming down. What's it gonna be?"

Five of spades, jack of hearts, nine of hearts.

"Backdoor hearts," Takeru said immediately. "Come on, eight of hearts, make it fun!"

"So, backdoor flush draw, and a few backdoor straight draws, not a completely terrible flop for Takeru. Still well behind. He certainly wouldn't be unhappy with nine points, would he?"

"No, not at all, nine points is definitely workable, it...it gives you room for mistakes in future heats, it puts you in a great position to make a final table run, and if you can just find a way to win one of your three remaining heats, that's twenty three points, at that point you don't even need to do THAT well in your other two."

The three of clubs was the turn card.

"Oh, what kind of a turn card is that?" Takeru said, straightening his jacket collar a bit. "Such a bad card." He gave a small smile over towards the dealer. "What is this, your first day? You're supposed to give me the eight of hearts, make it fun, get with the program."

"Total brick on the turn, Takeru's got seven percent equity, needs an ace. But yeah, nine points in your first heat is plenty to work with, he's got to be happy with that."

The river card was the ten of spades.

"Takeru pairs his ten, but it's not good enough to trump the kings of Eric Anderson, Takeru is out with nine points!"

"Good playing with you gentlemen," Takeru said, reaching over to shake Eric's hand.

"He'll take home nine of the fifty thousand dollars being awarded out in this heat, and more importantly, open up his first ever Premier League in third place with nine points. For a kid who's never played this format before, you have to say he did his job."

OOO

~Hikari~

"Oh my God, my life is so amazing," Takeru said, looking out the circular window of the jet from his seat inside the fuselage, out at the wispy white clouds floating beneath the flight path.

"Really? Is it? I hadn't noticed," Hikari said, with every bit of faux-naivety she could squeeze into such a line, from the seat to Takeru's immediate right.

"I mean, I decide to do something idiotic, I take this massive risk, I'm just ready for me to immediately regret everything, Ken tells me he has an idea, I'm waiting for him to tell me something I'm really not gonna like, and then...he says we need to go to Panok." He shrugged. "I can't lose, even when I screw up, things work out."

"Hey, don't get cocky," Ken chided, sitting in the row of seats behind Takeru and Hikari. "Just because we're in Panok doesn't mean you're going to like what I'm suggesting we do there."

"Whatever it is, I really don't care, because no matter what, at least we're in paradise!" He turned to Hikari, beckoning her towards the window next to Ken. "This place is special, you're gonna appreciate it. Panok is as sweet as it gets. A monument to wealthy people, a city built for the fiscal elites to show off."

"Okay, so, it's just like pretty much everywhere I've been over the last three months," Hikari said, glancing out the window as the jet began to duck into the cloud layer.

"No no no, this...this is beyond anything else. Tropical paradise, the epitomy of luxury everywhere you look, this is a whole different breed. You're gonna love it. This time of year, it's just perfect too. Honestly, Ken could tell me that I need to go spelunking around in the sewer system, and I wouldn't even be that mad."

"Well, that'll make this go a lot easier," Ken said dryly.

Daisy stood up from the seat next to Ken, strutting forward a couple steps and sliding past Hikari. "Well, he's not wrong...Panok's amazing." She leaned down towards Takeru. "And awful romantic, if you ask me."

Ken rolled his eyes from behind the scene of affection.

"Well, not really," Takeru replied, a bit of a confused look. "Unless wealth and luxury is an aphrodisiac for you."

Daisy gave a small smile, easing herself down into Takeru's lap, sitting down across his thighs. "Guilty as charged."

"Although...now that you mention it, one of those beach bungalows would be the perfect place to unleash some animalistic lust for six straight hours." Takeru reached his right hand up towards her thigh, rubbing it.

"Okay, why...why do you have to do this when I literally can't leave?" Ken said, peering over at the couple over the backs of the chairs. "When it's in the hotel room, at least I can just go out into the lobby, I can't go anywhere right now!" He looked out the window of the plane as it continued to sink down towards a large square of land amid a perfect blue sea. "I can't just eject myself out of the emergency release hatch."

"Well, you could," Daisy said. "It would just hurt."

"Hey, why are you so butthurt about public displays of affection? You have a girlfriend," Takeru protested. "It's not like we're mocking your virginity."

Ken gave a tired glare at the back of Takeru's head. "Oh, you know, Daisy's such a...pure, innocent little girl, I just...I find the thought of her besmirching her purity by having intercourse to be disgusting," he said, an absurd amount of snark in his voice.

Daisy's whole body jerked as she scrunched her face up, holding back an laughter. "W...w-what?!"

"That was...that was good," Takeru admitted. "That was good."

Hikari leaned over Ken again, looking out the window, as the large body of land, peppered with large areas of sand that was practically pure white, came closer and closer as the plane approached the landing strip. 


	36. Pot Committed

Chapter 36: Pot Committed

"You just know that Koushiro was thinking about raising to try to represent the straight, but Takeru has become somewhat known for making big hero calls in recent times, so he couldn't quite pull the trigger."

Takeru pulled in a small handful of chips.

"Let's take a look at where we stand after a long day of poker here at the Panok Millions cash game. When play started earlier today, we had nine players. Nine highly prolific high-stakes players sitting around our table, each one buying in for a minimum of six figures. Six of those players have now left the table, all of them losing between one hundred and four hundred thousand dollars. You are looking at the three players who have benefitted from that. Takeru Ishida, up over two hundred thousand dollars. Perry Iverson, up two hundred and eighty thousand. And the big winner so far tonight, none other than Koushiro Izumi, sitting on nearly half a million in profit."

"I almost emptied the clip there," Koushiro said, holding his hand up, index finger half an inch from his thumb. "Very close. But I thought you might have top two and couldn't fold."

"I wasn't folding," Takeru replied. "Maybe if you went all-in I couldn't call, but even then...I can't let you run me over."

"With three players left, we are going to up the stakes. We are now playing one thousand and two thousand blinds with a five hundred ante. Cash games don't get bigger than this."

Takeru slipped in two black chips and a red chip, watching Koushiro put out one red and Perry throw out a black and a red.

"With only three players still in, and a pot of forty-five hundred dollars getting built before any action goes in, expect to see these three guys really play aggressively and make moves, knowing they have fewer players to get through. Anyway, another hand getting dealt out, Koushiro on the button. And Phil, our lineup today has been top-notch, but look at who we've been left with after fourteen hours! Perry Iverson, Koushiro Izumi, Takeru Ishida. Does it get much better than these three playing short-handed?"

Koushiro looked down at seven six of hearts, sliding the cards into position in front of him.

"You don't have to sell me on this table right now. Many people consider Perry Iverson to be the greatest all-around poker player in the world right now, tournament and cash, and Koushiro Izumi is often called the greatest cash game Holdem player in the world. You might be looking at the two best poker players in the world right there, it's at least a good argument."

Koushiro put in six black chips.

"And Koushiro will raise to six thousand with small suited connectors from the button. And then you've got Ishida, who may not have the long established track record of Perry and Koushiro, but who's running better than him right now?"

Perry had a glance down at his two cards, ace of clubs and two of diamonds.

"Right, Takeru has only been a professional for...less than four months now, but he's just been killing it, so you have to acknowledge him as a real force in the game right now. Yeah, this is quite a trio. Perry's got a weak ace in the small blind."

Iverson put out two white chips and two black chips next to his small blind.

"And Iverson will re-raise with his ace deuce to twenty-three thousand. Wow, that's an overbet."

Takeru, with a quick look down at the queen of spades and six of clubs, folded.

"That gets rid of Takeru in the big blind pretty quickly. When you're three-handed, any ace is playable, but frankly, ace deuce offsuit is still a pretty bad hand, so Perry makes a big raise here hoping to just end things now. Would prefer not to get to the flop. Especially when he's out of position."

Koushiro looked intently over at Perry, playing with some chips in his right hand.

"Koushiro has position on Perry this hand, so that might be enough to motivate him to make this call. It's a big raise, though, and seven six suited looks a little less appealing when facing that much preflop action."

Koushiro's eyes dropped down to Perry's stacks of chips.

"Koushiro is calculating things out in his head, trying to figure out if calling is worth it. I think he's going to find that it is. Perry bought in for a million dollars when this day started, and is now sitting on a stack of over one and a quarter million. He has Koushiro covered, Koushiro bought in for four hundred thousand and is now sitting on a stack just shy of nine hundred thousand. Even if Perry has a hand like aces or kings, Koushiro must be thinking that if he can make a hand, he can win a truly massive pot."

Koushiro tossed a single white chip forward, following it up with seven blacks.

"And we will have two to the flop. Phil, who do you think has the advantage in this game right now?"

"Look, if you ask me that question in a situation where Perry Iverson is involved, I'm always going to say him. But it's definitely close. And Koushiro, this is sort of his thing, short-handed cash games, this is where he feels most comfortable. So it's certainly debatable. Nearly fifty grand in this pot already, and we have a coin toss heading into the flop. Both players with just about fifty percent equity."

The dealer put down the jack of clubs, three of diamonds, and five of clubs.

"Both players have flopped a gutshot straight draw. Perry has the best hand and the most equity as of right now with ace high, but...man. I almost don't want to jinx it, but if the turn card is a four...talk about the gin card."

"Especially if it's not the four of clubs. A four that's not a club would give Koushiro the nuts with the seven high straight, and Perry Iverson would make the third nuts with the five high straight. It almost seems too much to hope for."

Perry fired out three white chips and five black ones, sliding the small stack out towards the dealer.

"We might not get that far, Perry Iverson has bet thirty-five thousand into forty-nine thousand five hundred. Despite flopping the gutshot, it's not going to be easy for Koushiro to call here. I suspect he will call, but it's not a slam dunk."

Koushiro watched the dealer count out the size of the bet, looking down at the board.

"With the line that Perry has taken so far, it's easy to imagine he has a big pair. If that's the case, then Koushiro is drawing only to the straight, four outs. Not a great spot for him to be in, he'd be well behind. I think he'll peel and see a turn card, but it doesn't feel great just holding seven high."

Koushiro rifled a stack of white chips around.

"Maybe he's thinking about a raise? Would be a reasonable play, he knows he has outs with the gutshot, and can sometimes just take the pot down right here."

Koushiro finally put out three whites and five blacks.

"Nope, he's just calling. And someone like Koushiro, I promise you he's thinking about more than just the gutshot. He also thinks he might be able to take the pot away later by floating here, he can later represent that he has a jack, or that he has clubs, and find other ways to win even if he doesn't improve. If nothing else, he's flopped quite well, has to continue at least once."

The dealer, after gathering together a pot of nearly one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, burned and turned the four of hearts.

"OH MY GOD!"

Perry, expression unmoving and stoic, looked over at the turn card for a beat, then looked back down to his chips.

"Wow, this is...this is unreal. This is unbelievable. Perry Iverson has made a straight, and he is drawing dead. He's got the wheel, the straight ace to five, but Koushiro is sitting there with the absolute nuts. What a turn card."

Perry rubbed his finger over his upper lip a few times, then reached down towards his chips.

"Since it's about to become very relevant, let's remind our viewers that Koushiro is the effective stack, he currently has eight hundred and twenty-eight thousand behind. Right now, Perry is trying to figure out how to get as many of those chips as he can into the middle, not realizing that he's drawing dead."

"We're going for the record. The biggest cash game pot in televised poker history is just over one and a half million dollars. If all the money gets in, we will break that record quite comfortably. Wow."

Perry tossed out nine white chips.

"Ninety thousand dollars from Iverson, pretty standard sizing. Phil, is there any way in the world that he can get away from this?"

"Well, he's never going to fold on the turn, that's for sure. He's not worried about Koushiro having six deuce at all, so the only hand he's losing to right now that can even cross his mind is seven six specifically. But, if can somehow get to the river with chips back, and then the river is a scare card, he might be able to at least not get stacked. If the board pairs on the river, or if the river is a club, he'll have to at least be suspicious. Short of that, I don't think he can get away from this."

Koushiro, taking his time, kept his eyes trained on Perry as he played with his chips.

"And with the flush draw out there, I have to believe Koushiro's going to put in a raise here. There are definitely some bad river cards that either kill his action, or in some cases, make him concerned that he no longer has the best hand."

"Yeah, Koushiro's definitely raising. I would make it around two hundred thousand more, maybe even a little less. Make it look like I could be raising with the thought of folding to a re-raise with something like a flush draw. What you really don't want to do is make a raise so big it guarantees you're committed to the hand. That gives Perry the opportunity to at least think about things and consider what hands you'd be willing to commit nearly eight hundred thousand dollars to, and then maybe put you on the nut straight. That's perhaps the one way Perry could actually get away from this."

Mimi, up in the first row of the bleacher seating around the table, was involved in an animated conversation with Daisy and Hikari.

"Mimi Tachikawa has absolutely no idea what's brewing on the table right now. If she knew, she'd probably be giving off tells so big, even Perry would pick up on them from twenty feet away. As Koushiro's girlfriend, she has a vested interest in his performance on the felt, so you can be sure that in a few moments, she'll have all of her focus on the game."

Koushiro put two gold chips, then stacked three white chips and two black chips on top of it. He dropped these chips off past his button, prompting the dealer to reach out and start counting.

"He's raised an additional one hundred and forty-two thousand dollars! The pot has ballooned to four hundred and forty-two thousand, and we're far from done yet!"

"And I like that raise a lot. It leaves Koushiro with a ton of chips behind, so it's not unreasonable to think that he's raising with plans to fold to a re-raise. I still don't see Perry getting away from this. Granted, if anyone in the world can get away from it, it's him, he is considered the best player in the world. But I just can't imagine it. In fact, he might even declare all-in right here. Koushiro has just short of six hundred thousand behind, so it would be an overbet, but at this point, he might figure he may as well."

Perry blinked down a few times, staring over at Koushiro's stack.

"He's out of position as well, so he really doesn't want to get to the river, see a scare card, and be forced to check. What he doesn't realize is that sequence of events might very well save him a lot of money. But how can he possibly know that?"

"I'm all-in," Perry said.

"THERE IT IS! Perry Iverson has shoved six hundred thousand more!"

"I call," Koushiro announced.

"And of course, Koushiro calls immediately, he is holding the nuts. Perry turns over his wheel, and he can only grimace in pain as Koushiro reveals his seven six."

Perry blinked a couple times. "Wow. Nice hand."

"Oh my GOD, what a turn of events! Perry Iverson has just lost nearly nine hundred thousand dollars in one hand, this river card is completely irrelevant, and Koushiro Izumi has just taken the biggest pot in the history of televised cash games!"

"That's no good," Perry grunted, starting to count out his chips and pushing them in towards the middle of the table.

"Officially, this pot is one million, seven hundred and seventy-six thousand dollars, and it is all going over to Koushiro Izumi! The dealer has dealt out the river card, the jack of hearts, changes nothing of course, and here comes the double up!"

"And you can say...whatever you want about Perry Iverson. You can say he's worth over a hundred million dollars, you can talk about the thirty million dollars in live tournament cashes, the consistent profits in high stakes cash games, the grinding online for hundreds of thousands of dollars a month, the fact that he's more than capable of winning it all back over the course of a couple good days...this hurts. This hurts bad. That's the value of a brand new Parvarti Super Eight Performance Car that Perry is sending over to Koushiro, and he feels it."

Mimi, hands now tightly gripping the rail circling the table area, was no longer participating in any conversation. She mouthed a series of three words that were quite obvious. Takeru, meanwhile, couldn't help but give a wince.

"Mimi can't believe it, and Takeru...he and Koushiro are friends, I'm sure he's happy for him, but even he can't help but feel some sympathy pains for Perry Iverson, who had been doing so well today before that hand."

"Alright, I think that's it," Koushiro said as Perry tossed a handful of chips forward.

OOO

~Takeru~

"I'm all about pink diamonds," Mimi explained, holding up a small purple pillow in her hands. Atop the cushion was a small necklace, made up mostly of a thin golden chain, every fourth link swapped out with a gleaming pink crystal, each one cut into a perfect old styled Tolkowsky cut. Each pink gem was framed by a tiny circle of round clear diamonds. "You can't beat the pinks."

Takeru leaned in to examine it closely. "Well, it's certainly got my world series bracelets beat in more ways than one...although, I'm quite happy with those."

"Your One Drop bracelet probably isn't too far off in value," Ken pointed out. "That's ninety grand, right?"

"Ninety grand," Mimi repeated.

The small shop had been packed to the brim with the finest jewelry in the world, hiding behind glass display cases. The group had congregated in the back left corner of the shop.

Koushiro gave a small sigh. "The problem is, I literally can't not get her whatever she wants. I literally have to. Because she watched me play poker for like fifteen hours today, and she knows that I made almost a million and a half, and if I don't give her what she wants, I look like an ungrateful jackass."

"Problem?" Mimi repeated, raising an eyebrow over at her boyfriend. "How is that a problem?"

Koushiro rolled his eyes. "Oh...you know." He reached up and scratched the bridge of his nose. "Ninety thousand, I...the Leavensworth suburban kid in me can't help but really feel that kind of amount." He put his hands in his pockets. "Besides, that's like...one hundred and fifty big blinds at Six Figure Stacks."

Mimi wrapped her right arm around Koushiro's back. "Well, dear, you're a long way away from Leavensworth. Now, when we're done here, we'll head back home, and we'll...find some solutions to those problems, eh?"

Koushiro gave a small nod. "Well, there is that."

"That's the spirit," Mimi said, setting the pillow down on one of the glass counters.

"We're not done, are we?" Koushiro asked.

"Not even close," Mimi replied, walking off.

"Oh come on, buddy," Takeru said teasingly. "We all know that you and her come here, like, twice a week and clean the shelves off. This is your town, you run this place."

Koushiro gave a sheepish little laugh. "Please." He scratched the back of his head. "Today's a special day, that's all. If it wasn't for that hand, I would have just headed straight home."

"Well, congrats. Another spot in the record books," Takeru said, clapping Koushiro on the shoulder.

"For the moment," Koushiro replied, following Mimi down one of the aisles.

"What's your favorite?" Mimi asked, looking down at one of the display tables hidden behind a sheet of glass. "You like the pinks?"

"They're nice," Daisy replied, having followed Mimi down the aisle. "I, uh...I've always liked the emeralds and sapphires. Color contrast." She loudly cleared her throat, a glance over her shoulder.

"I hear ya," Takeru said, an impish grin on his face as he turned back towards the back corner of the store, towards where Hikari was standing. "Something the matter? What are you doing?"

Hikari was standing in the corner, holding her arms tightly to her sides. "Just...making sure I don't touch anything."

"Don't look so stressed," Takeru said, motioning her to come towards him. "You're fine."

Hikari glanced around, then marched forward towards Takeru. "I've never been so afraid to trip and fall in my life, and that's actually really saying something."

"Don't waste the worry," Takeru insisted. "These glass panels are meant to stand up against bullets. You can fall on them as hard as you want."

"The stuff by the entrance was like four hundred dollars, what's even the difference?" Hikari asked. "It all's the same stuff, isn't it?"

"You're asking the wrong person," Takeru said. "But the commercials tell me that the more expensive it is, the more your girl loves you when you give it to them." He clapped his hand on Hikari's shoulder. "And who am I to argue with that? You wanna help me pick something out that Daisy will like?"

"You're definitely asking the wrong person," Hikari said. "Uh...whatever's the second cheapest thing they have."

"Wait, what are these even for?" Koushiro asked, holding up a small golden band inbetween his fingers. "Where do they go?"

"They're toe rings," Mimi explained.

"Toe rings?" Koushiro repeated. "Toe rings? That's what they're making now?" He shook his head. "It's amazing, people just...they know the industry is trying to find every little opening to get more money, and they just fall right into the trap. Toe rings, can you..." he turned around, looking over at Takeru. "Can you even conceive of something more pointless?"

"They've been around for quite awhile, sweetie," Mimi insisted, reaching up towards him and plucking the ring from his fingers.

"Like...who's supposed to be looking at your feet? Who's supposed to notice that?" Koushiro asked.

"We're still getting it," Mimi said, setting it down on the glass countertop.

"Oh, I know, I'm just saying," Koushiro said, rolling his eyes. "Alright, are we...we're doing the brooch too, right?"

"Just to set expectations now, I can't possibly match this," Takeru said, tapping Daisy on the shoulder. "This, this extreme baller status from Prodigious, I can't stand up to it. This is beyond me."

"I've been called a lot of things over the years," Koushiro replied. "Baller isn't one of them." He pushed his hand through his short red hair. "That's a new one."

"As an impartial observer, watching you buy like...two hundred grand in jewelry without even a wince, it's appropriate," Takeru insisted. "Trust me." He turned back towards Daisy. "So anyway, I'm just thinking, I can't compete...is it more pathetic to try to compete and come up miserably short, or to just not bother trying."

"I would definitely think less of you if you don't try," Daisy said dryly. "I understand your dilemma, but...you should try."

"Uh-huh." Takeru stood back up straight, taking his weight off of the countertop. "Alright. Let's see."

OOO

"Buddy, you have no idea how great this is." Takeru looked out the long expanse of ocean water, leading off towards the final bits of a sunset. He and Koushiro were slowly ambling along the edge of the sandy beach, just a couple feet short of where the small waves were lapping at. "Maybe you just can't realize how awesome this is because you're in the middle of it, but this is incredible." He held his arms out to his sides, extending them. "Really."

Koushiro smiled. "Mimi told me that owning your own island was basically the ultimate power move. She said that...if you're at the point where you can actually buy an island to live on, then you've really made it. Doesn't matter if it's small, doesn't matter how nice the island is, just...the ability to say you have your own island is enough."

"She's right," Takeru said. "I mean, this is really something. Your own island, couple miles away from Panok, I...if I had a different life, I'd be looking for a matching plot somewhere around here for sure." He pointed off to his right. "Find another little piece of paradise, maybe...five miles in that direction, set up shop there, cruise into Panok every day for nosebleed cash games...there's the life."

"It is pretty nice," Koushiro agreed. "I was surprised, it wasn't even really that expensive." He glanced around. "Not as much as I was thinking, anyway."

"Really?" Takeru raised an eyebrow over at Koushiro, sticking his hands into the pockets of his shorts. "You got a good price on this?" Takeru gave a small wince. "Hard time believing that, everything else out here is so expensive." He pointed at himself. "And this is coming from me! I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch today that cost thirty-eight bucks! We gouge people at The Mecca, but this is...this is beyond even that."

Koushiro nodded. "Yeah, the economy out here...it's far removed from anywhere else in the world. Fortunately, there just so happen to be an awful lot of these small little islands peppered around here...and not a ton of willing buyers." He shrugged. "So if you show a bit of interest in one of them, you can really negotiate the cost down." He looked around. "I can walk around this place in an hour, but...just the fact that the whole thing belongs to me, it's just amazing."

"Hey, you deserve it," Takeru insisted. "Look where you were ten years ago, I...I can't even come close to imagining how hard it must be to dig yourself out of that."

Koushiro nodded. "But, really...I do it for her," he said, jerking his head towards the center of the island, towards the forest of trees that surrounded the actual mansion in the middle area. "I like making her happy. Me, I'd be fine with a tiny apartment down the street from The Ultra, but...she's really into all these sorts of things. And...it feels like we're gonna be together for a long time."

"So you're really thinking about it?" Takeru asked. "That's quite a big thing."

"I mean, why not, right?" Koushiro shrugged. "Who else am I gonna find who puts up with me?"

"Yeah, nobody wants to put up with the...millions of dollars and the private island and the traveling across the world." Takeru rolled his eyes. "So horrible."

"Maybe," Koushiro admitted. "I know I can't be the greatest boyfriend to have when I start multi-tabling online. She just...she completes me. We're such different people, we look at things so differently, and...here we are, making a great team. I just think that's beautiful."

"Hey, just be sure to get a wedding invitation out to me," Takeru said. "I'll be there. But, you gotta think about what you're gonna get her when you drop it, you're buying her pink diamonds on a whim. Gotta find a way to top that for a proposal."

"I was thinking a yacht." Koushiro rubbed the back of his head. "God damn, I might end up regretting all of this if I ever start running bad, but I just can't help myself. I like making her happy."

"Noble cause," Takeru replied. "Making them happy, it feels good. I can relate, Daisy...I love making her happy."

"I know it must seem shallow from the outside looking in," Koushiro said suddenly.

"Huh? What, no, I...hey, I didn't say anything," Takeru said, slightly defensively. "No, I...I didn't say anything."

"It must seem like that," Koushiro continued. "I hear stuff like that on television and read it on the internet. You know, people look at me and look at her, and they just think...how does that happen? What do they have in common, other than he has money and she likes money? But it's so much more than that, really." He nodded. "If you're not there day in, day out, you can't know how much she means to me."

"I, I believe you," Takeru insisted. "You don't have to convince me."

"And, it really is a joy for me to be able to give her all these things." Koushiro turned to look back towards the center of the island. "I mean, unless you're...born right into it, you never really think you're going to have millions of dollars and all these nice things one day. Me, of course, but even her...this is all beyond even her more optimistic hopes. I take serious joy out of...seeing her eyes light up when she sees the lifestyle she can have because of what I do. What's the point of making millions of dollars if you can't bring some people along for the ride with you?"

"That's a really sweet way to put it," Takeru replied.

"And when it's someone who never thought they'd be able to live like that, it's even better," Koushiro said. "I get a lot out of it. And beyond all that, like I said...I really feel like she completes me. We've been together for a few years now, I think I've got it figured out."

"I'm trying to figure that stuff out myself right now," Takeru said. "You sound like you've got it more than me."

"My advice to you is...take your time," Koushiro said. "I mean, you have to be feeling great about things right now, how could you not feel great about someone like Daisy, but...make sure before you make a big commitment."

"I definitely will," Takeru agreed. "Anyway, thanks for showing us around this place, it's...it's amazing that this is actually yours."

"My favorite part is the internet never drops," Koushiro said. "I had them build a tower on my roof when they built it, reception is perfect all the time. Never drop connection during a hand, which tilts me like nothing else in the world. I have an entire graveyard of computer mice from times I've timed out in the middle of a hand because of connection problems."

"Mmhmm," Takeru said, nodding.

The two stood there in silence for several seconds.

"If you're waiting for me to offer to let you stay the night in my guest room, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't," Koushiro said.

"Okay, okay," Takeru said with a laugh. "Okay, alright, I'll...we'll head back to the mainland." He pulled his personal assistant out of his front shirt pocket and began tapping along the screen. "I understand."

"Nothing personal, it's just...I bought a lot of nice stuff tonight, I'd like to have the house to myself." He nodded. "Hope to see you more over the next couple days though, you know where I'll be."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sticking around for awhile. I've got some stuff going on here, and...I'm gonna do the super high roller in a couple weeks too." Takeru's forehead wrinkled. "Say, uh...PokerHub, can I ask you something real quick?"

"I probably can't answer, but...go ahead," Koushiro replied.

"Uh...Ray Paxson, you uh...you interact with him much? Know much about him? Care for the job he does?"

Koushiro glanced to his left and right, then shrugged. "Honestly, I...I don't pay attention to anything over at Hub, I just can't bring myself to care, I'm only with them because I didn't want to get sued." He scratched at the side of his face. "I just wear the patch when I play live, and...the last year I've gotten desposits every month. I just don't care about the business that much. Any reason why? I heard you already picked Big Stack."

"I've just heard some...not great things," Takeru said passively. "Nothing big, but...just some less than flattering statements about how the company is run."

"My initial deal with them expired last year, I could have done whatever at that point, but...I re-signed just because I figured, what's the difference? Don't take it as an endorsement of them or anything, I just...I play there, so why not?" Koushiro bit down on the inside of his cheek. "I don't pay attention to the business very much, I just...focus on my game."

"Fair enough. I've just heard some stuff, wanted to see what you thought." Takeru nodded. "Alright, man." He reached over and clapped Koushiro on the shoulder. "Congrats on tonight, that was...history. Glad I was there for it."

OOO

"I love this!" Daisy said, spreading her arms to her sides as she stepped through the front door of the bungalow, looking around the main room. "This is something I've never gotten in my life before, this...rustic quality, I kind of feel like I'm roughing it."

Ken let out a coughing laugh as he pushed a cart full of luggage through the entrance, wheeling it over towards the left side of the door and releasing it. "Yeah, roughing it, wow, that's...sorry, Daisy, I know you don't like being mocked for being born rich, but...I'm afraid I'm gonna have to whip that card out right here."

"Oh, I don't mind being mocked for being born rich," Daisy countered, slipping out of her shoes and vaulting the back of the couch. "I just don't wanna hear it from you, buddy. You make me feel like a peasant, you're not allowed to say anything." She reached over the back of the couch, pointing at Hikari as she entered the bungalow. "She can say something. That's fine, she can say whatever she wants."

"Go on, let her have it!" Takeru goaded, entering behind Hikari. "Tell that uppity silver spoon woman what things are really like in the real world!"

Hikari rolled her eyes. "She doesn't know any better, I forgive her."

"Seriously, though, this is...like, right on the beach, all the...ambiance from outside, the ocean being like forty feet away from the front door, this feels...there's a purity to this that I've never had anywhere else."

"Well, take a look at the stuff you can order from the resort to dispel that myth," Ken said, going over to the wall, where a small computer screen was built into the wall. He tapped it, bringing up a display. "Look, you can...you can actually have girls in bikinis come down to your bungalow and feed you chilled grapes. I push one button, and I can order that. Four hundred dollars an hour with a mandatory minimum twenty percent tip!" He shook his head. "Yeah, we're just out in the middle of nowhere, man versus wild type survival."

"Four hundred dollars an hour?" Daisy repeated. "Maybe I should move here and take a second job, I'd make a killing."

"Sure, you can start practicing now," Takeru said, leaning over the back of the couch, looking down at her. "I can call the resort, tell them to send down the grapes and the bikini, and skip the girls."

Daisy shrugged. "Why not skip the bikini too?" She put her foot up on the armrest of the couch. "Thanks for spoiling me, by the way." Her ankle was sporting a thin band of gold with a couple sapphires and emeralds dangling from it. "It might have been a sad effort next to Prodigious, but...it was an effort nevertheless."

"You're very welcome." Takeru turned back towards Ken. "Alright, so, what are we doing here? What's your idea?"

"Right," Ken said firmly, stretching his arms up above his head. "Well, it's pretty simple. Panok is a real paradise for the super wealthy. If you can afford the place, then this place is very kind to you. And, of course, that includes places to secretly stash large amounts of money without public knowledge. Evading taxes, dodging questions about where the money came from, Panok is a haven for all of that." With a sigh, Ken sat down at one of the stools in the kitchen area to the right of the main room. "Is there even a one percent chance that Gandolphini doesn't have a significant presence in those stashes?"

"Okay, great, but...what can we do with that?" Takeru sat down on the edge of the backrest of the couch. "Panok doesn't care about that, they've made it pretty clear. In fact, they pretty much welcome it." Takeru drummed his fingers on the backrest. "And unless you can prove where the money came from, nobody else can do anything." He shrugged. "Actually, even if you can, they can't really do anything. That's the point of it, right?"

"You could get another nation to declare war on Panok," Daisy suggested. "I get the distinct feeling these guys don't have much of a standing army."

"That sounds like one hell of a long-term play," Takeru said, eyebrows raising up towards his hairline. "I'd really rather not be the guy who sparks the first international conflict in decades."

"Well, obviously, that's not my thinking," Ken said. "Look, the Vincent kid gave us a lot of vague indications of the kinds of things that his dad is involved in. So, while we're here, we'll poke around, and when we see the things that are connected, we'll actually have a chance to know that the connection is there. And then, maybe, we'll have some kind of trail we can follow."

"Well, it's definitely something," Takeru said. "Just, where do we start?"

Ken chewed on his tongue for a moment. "Michael uses his shipping business as a way to appear legitimately wealthy, he's got cargo ships passing through here all the time, might be something useful there." He pursed his lips. "We're definitely playing a very dangerous game, but...we really don't need that much. Just something that he wouldn't want to get out that we can use to blackmail him with. Even if it's not that big, he's...he's worked long and hard on his empire to risk it over having his fingers in one casino. Even if we found something as simple as tax evasion evidence, that's probably enough."

Takeru put his arms out to his sides. "Hey, I...all things being considered, this sounds easier than I was even hoping it would be. If it ends up being as simple as you make it sound, I'll be thrilled."

"Don't be thrilled," Ken chided. "This, this can still involve us being put in some rather uncomfortable situations. We're gonna have to take chances, we're gonna have to do things that could easily blow up in our faces. Seriously, don't think for a second that just because I have a plan means the plan is just...gonna go off perfectly. We're going to have to ask favors from people who could easily decide they'd rather not rock the boat with organized criminals."

Takeru nodded. "Well...so be it. I just can't help but feel like things are going to work out for me."

Daisy, sitting up from behind Takeru, reached up and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Obviously. Because nothing else in the world ever goes your way."

"I'm obviously due for some good luck," Takeru snarked. "Now, how about that animalistic lust we were talking about before we got here?"

Ken snorted, spinning his stool so he was facing away from the couple. "Well, at least I got him to talk about serious stuff for two minutes."

"Oh, Hikari, you can get in on that grape stuff if you want," Takeru said, standing up and reaching down to lift Daisy up bridal-style. "Just have them charge it to me."

Hikari put her finger up to her lips. "Uh, are they green grapes or red grapes?"

With a sly smile, Takeru nodded over towards her. "She's getting picky now, I love it." 


	37. Over The Top

Chapter 37: Over The Top

"The money flows free in Panok!" Daisy said, lifting a thin, vase-shaped glass up to her lips and taking a sip of a yellow liquid. "Who am I to not go with the flow?"

"Well, count Daisy Scott among the remaining players who have decided to break their state of sobriety here, she's taken the leap. And who can blame our remaining players, who wouldn't want to get a little tipsy at the final table of a super high roller event?"

"I've played drunk before," Daisy continued, setting the glass down on the table next to her seat. "But it was always at the home games with my friends, so, just warning everyone, I have practice."

"A bunch of poker players playing for the lion's share of a fourteen million dollar prize pool while inebriated, someone get the blurcle ready."

"Who DOESN'T have practice playing poker drunk?" Lee Kort asked. "That's, like, part of taking up the game, everyone does that at some point." He placed his mostly-empty glass on the table to his right.

"He didn't!" Daisy pointed her thumb over her right shoulder. "My boyfriend, never, not once."

"Yeah, for good reasons," Takeru replied from behind the railing. "Would you like me to tell you those reasons, sweetie?"

"Oh, hush!" Daisy hissed, waving her hand over towards Takeru. "Your 'reasons' got you knocked out of here with no money to show for it, you be quiet today!"

Takeru rolled his eyes. "Yeah."

"This is all I'm going to have, I swear, I just want the taste," Daisy insisted, pointing down at the glass. "I'm still operating at...at least ninety-seven percent mental capacity, I'm good." The dealer began whipping cards around the table to each player. "That missing three percent is mostly only used when I play Omaha anyway."

"Well, back to poker, another hand getting underway, first hand back after the break. To recap, we are now seven-handed in the Panok Millions Super High Roller event, each player got into this tournament for one hundred thousand dollars. We had a hundred and fifty-six players to start the day, so signups were actually down a little bit from previous years, but still more than enough to get a very respectable tournament going. Next player eliminated picks up nearly five hundred and twenty thousand dollars."

Vann Whittaker had a glance down at the seven of hearts and seven of spades.

"Whittaker's got pocket sevens, he's under the gun, expect him to open the action. Average stack size is two point two million, give or take, blinds are twenty and forty thousand with a five thousand ante. We're not quite shallow yet, but we're not too far away from the beach."

Whittaker plopped an orange chip out past his cards.

"That orange chip is worth a hundred thousand, out from a stack of about three and a half million. Vann is one of the bigger stacks here."

Flynn Rodgers and Mirza Teletovic both folded their cards.

"Here's another one of the remaining big stacks, Daisy Scott, looking down at...two queens! Big hand."

"Rodgers, Teletovic, and Nanako are all running low on chips, so the last thing any of the bigger stacks want to do is take a big hit and put themselves down on their level. Just outlasting those three players and finishing fourth is worth over four hundred thousand dollars. But I don't think Daisy can play scared with the queens here, I like a re-raise."

Daisy got two orange chips and two silver chips out into a small pile, tossing it out beyond the yellow line on the table.

"And Daisy will indeed put out a three-bet, she pumps the action up to two hundred and fifty thousand. She's got...well, she had a little more than three million before this hand started, so she can certainly threaten the tournament life of some of the other players here. Kyle Bosa folds the button, and Lee Kort in the small blind is having a look down at his hand..."

Kort looked down at the ace of hearts and jack of hearts.

"Well, this is a...interesting spot for Kort, he's got a suited ace jack in the small blind, but he's facing a raise and a re-raise, he could easily be dominated by a hand like ace king or ace queen, and with the current situation at this table, it's not the worst idea to just get out of the way and...protect your stack."

Lee glanced down the table over at Vann, then over towards Daisy.

"He's getting a good price, assuming Vann doesn't four-bet when the action gets back around to him, and...well, Kort can afford it. He's got about four million in chips, he's our chip leader, and he's aware that if he catches the right flop, he could possibly knock another player down into the danger zone, if not out entirely."

Lee tossed out four chips, two orange and two silver.

"He is indeed going to get involved, that gets rid of Nanako in the big blind, and I think Whittaker is going to call here. He's probably good enough to realize that he's behind with his two sevens, but he's getting good pot odds to try to flop a set, and if he fails to hit a seven, he'll be clever enough to get away from this one."

Vann did indeed toss out the extra orange chip, along with two silver ones, completing the preflop action.

"Eight hundred and twenty-five thousand in the middle, this pot is already a big deal. And you just know that the three short stacks are hoping that someone blows up and gets felted here, they love to see the three big stacks get in confrontations. Every payjump counts!"

The dealer flopped out the ace of spades, three of clubs, and five of spades.

"And there's the ace on the flop, that should limit the damage. Vann failed to flop a set, and Daisy must realize that that ace is not a particularly good card for her. She might lose...one bet, but not too much more."

Kort checked, slapping the felt with his palm. Vann did so quickly as well.

"Checked around to the pre-flop aggressor, and I actually kind of like checking behind for Daisy. When you think about it, there aren't very many hands worse than queens that would call a bet here. Maybe you can get a call from jacks, tens, nines, hands like those, although I'm not even sure those hands call."

Daisy slid out two stacks of white chips, pulled a chip off of each stack, and then pushed them into the pot, using both hands to push the wager forward.

"She has bet here, three hundred and eighty thousand, a fairly standard continuation bet, but I still would have preferred a check. About the only benefit from betting here is charging the flush draw, and if Daisy gets called here, or even gets raised, it's going to be really hard for her to know if she's up against an ace or a flush draw, she's basically just guessing."

Kort took a few seconds to ponder things, looking over his chips.

"Now, as it turns out, Lee Kort does indeed have an ace, a pretty good one at that, so I'm sure he's at least calling, and it's an easy decision for Vann to fold. And I think that Daisy will be able to shut down on the turn. She'll still have close to two and a half million behind, a bit above average, no reason to go crazy in a situation where it's easy to imagine you're beat."

Kort pushed out two stacks of nineteen white chips as well, leaving Vann the opportunity to fold.

"And this is a fun encounter here, two very young, yet highly skilled poker players, making their mark on the world of professional poker. They're both twenty years old, most of us are still trying to figure out what to do with our lives when we're twenty, and these two are final tabling a super high roller event against the best in the world."

The turn card brought the jack of spades.

"Very interesting turn card, gives Lee two pair and also completes the flush draw. Improves Kort's hand, but will also make it much easier for Daisy to get away. I imagine Kort's going to lead out here, he wants to protect against a fourth spade on the river, and Daisy has an easy fold. Just shy of one point six million out there. And yeah, these two, very new to the professional circuit, but both really proving themselves."

Lee gathered together seven orange chips from the singular orange stack behind his chips and fired the seven out in a line into the pot.

"Daisy Scott, of course, began her career in the most recent world series, she cashed several times across a few dozen events, made one final table, but...people have a tendency to remain skeptical of young players, even after having some success. I think today will dispel a lot of that, you don't just final table a super high roller without really having some game."

"I feel bad for Kyle Bosa sitting next to her. He's got on a hoodie and sweatpants, sitting right next to her, that's not even fair. He'd look like a bit of a slob even WITHOUT that comparison."

Daisy got together seven orange chips as well and dropped them forwards, past the yellow line in front of her.

"Well...just as I'm talking about how much game she has, she makes a very curious call of seven hundred grand. To be clear, Daisy has the queen of hearts and queen of clubs, she does not have the queen of spades, so she doesn't have the flush draw, and I'm just not sure what she's doing here."

"She has to realize she's not beating anything that Kort could have, right? I'm trying to come up with a hand that Kort could have that Daisy's beating, not coming up with much. Maybe she thinks her club is a spade? Could it be that last three percent of her brain power not kicking in?"

"Yeah, we've all done things like that before, misread our hand, misread the board. I mean, even if she's calling to try to hit a queen, which she shouldn't be doing, if the river ends up being the queen of spades, that's really not all that great anyway, you're still really only beating bluffs."

The river card came up from the deck, the eight of spades.

"The only other thing I can think of is that she's floating with the intent of bluffing the river, and there's a really good river for her to try it. Eight of spades, there are now four spades on the board, very scary board to be involved in without having the flush."

Lee checked, tapping the felt.

"I'm not surprised to see Lee check there, he's definitely got to be concerned about that river card, and...is Daisy going to fire, and will it be a persuasive enough argument for Kort to lay down top two pair?"

Daisy's eyes were downcast, down towards her remaining chips.

"A few weeks ago, we saw her boyfriend, Takeru Ishida, turn pocket queens into a bluff in the Premier League. Can Daisy match that play with one of her own?"

"With Lee checking the river there, she knows that it's...at least somewhat unlikely that he has the flush, and the way the hand has gone, she can certainly represent that she has it. Doesn't take much to have a big spade in your hand, she could just as easily have...pocket queens with the queen of spades and could have played this hand just like she did."

"I'm all-in," Daisy announced.

"AND SHE HAS DONE IT! She has turned her queens into a bluff, and fired her last one point eight million into the middle, and this could be it for her! If Kort calls, Daisy will be out!"

"Yuck," Kort muttered, looking back down at his two cards.

"She certainly realizes that this is a bluff, right?"

"Oh, absolutely, this is a bluff one hundred percent of the time. Even if Daisy has the best hand with pocket queens here, she can never get called by a worse hand, so even if she thought she was winning, she would just check behind. This is absolutely designed to get Kort off an ace, two pair, or basically any hand that isn't a flush."

"I got a real big hand over here, Daisy," Lee said, looking back over towards her. "I really do."

"This is kind of a...kind of a crazy play, isn't it? I mean...there's certainly some logic to it, but...Daisy started this hand with the third biggest stack, and now she's at risk of going out ahead of three short stacks! She could have fallen asleep at the table for an hour and just let those three bust out and made nearly half a million more!"

"Well, the play itself is not crazy, this is a reasonable bluff with some good thought process behind it. What's crazy is the massive amounts of money that she's risking here when she doesn't have to. If she does get called here, she's really going to feel like she set half a million dollars on fire. It's definitely a crazy play because of that, not at all recommended, especially in these circumstances, but at the same time, the fact that it is such a crazy play gives it so much more respect. I mean, how can she possibly be bluffing here given ICM and payjumps and stack sizes and...everything else? Bluffing here seems like such a bad idea, so of course Daisy can't be bluffing here, right?"

"Ace king with the king of spades? You got that?" Lee asked, leaning over to look at Daisy, who was stone-faced. "Ace king with the king of spades. That would make a lot of sense."

"Yeah, that's a hand that Daisy could definitely get here with. Or kings with the king of spades, queens with the queen of spades, king queen of spades...maybe tens with the ten of spades, although I'm not so sure about that one."

"But really, that's it, isn't it? It's one of those hands, or a bluff? She's never showing up with...like, the three of spades or four of spades, that's completely ridiculous, right?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much impossible. MAYBE she's got a...set of aces or a set of jacks, only because she has position. When Lee checks on the river, he's very unlikely to have a flush, so maybe Daisy figures, I'm going to go for thin value with a set, and if he wants to hero me with a hand like ace jack, great, but I doubt he's checking a flush on the river, so I'm going to go for it. But even then, I don't think Daisy gets here like this with a set."

Lee grabbed a light blue coaster-sized chip and flipped it over towards the dealer.

"And this is a great time to use your timebank chip. Each player gets thirty seconds to act on their hand, but each player also gets two timebank chips, which they can use to gain an extra minute. Each player only gets two timebank chips to last the whole day, so you want to save them for a big decision. And this is certainly a big decision."

"Oh, man, you can't do this to me," Lee said, putting his hands up on the sides of his head. "Any non-spade river, I'm ready to play for it all, you just had to bring the spade." He winced. "Kings with the king of spades? Could be that too."

"Remember, all the ICM considerations apply to Lee as well. If he calls and gets it wrong, he's down below one million chips and joins the short stacks, which is a huge drop in equity. Folding leaves him with an above average stack, still a great chance to ladder up and possibly even win. So this is a huge risk by Daisy, but it's also a LOT of pressure on Kort, so it does go both ways."

"If I stick it in there and I'm right, I've got...so many chips," he said wistfully. "But I'm really gonna feel like a moron if I put it in and you show me a flush." He sighed. "Top two pair, by the way." He looked over towards Daisy as he spoke. "Ace jack."

"Daisy gives away nothing. And if she pulls this bluff off, she'll be the chip leader, what a...what a high-leverage spot."

"I think it's going to work too. I think Lee is getting ready to fold, he just can't afford to make hero calls for most of his remaining chips. Too much money out there."

"Y'know, I wonder if Daisy is still sitting there thinking she has the queen of spades and is hoping she gets called."

"Sir, in ten seconds, you'll owe your last time bank chip," the dealer said.

With a grunt, Lee whisked his cards over towards the dealer. "Alright."

"THERE IT IS! Lee Kort releases, and Daisy's our new chip leader! What a gutsy play by the young professional, she...she's showing some real courage in letting that one fly!"

"Did I get bluffed?" Lee asked. "I feel like I didn't get bluffed, but did I?"

"You'll see it on TV later," Daisy replied, sliding her cards over to the dealer. "But, yes. You got bluffed."

"OH MAN! She knew! She KNEW she didn't have a spade, what a...what a gutsy play!"

"Oh, my God," Lee mumbled, leaning back hard in his chair. "Oh, that hurts."

"Seven left in the Panok Millions Super High Roller, and Daisy Scott is your new chip leader!"

OOO

~Takeru~

"Of course I wasn't bluffing," Daisy said, pulling in her two cards. "I have the best hand there, like, ninety percent of the time. I'm never trying to get you to fold jacks full, of course I'm never bluffing that hand off the pot." She peered down at her cards. "Just can't be helped." She glanced up at the dealer and nodded. "I'm all-in."

"Alright, here we go," Takeru said under his breath, watching as Daisy got to her feet. Ken's focus snapped up to the table as well, eyes away from his personal assistant.

"One point one million," Daisy said.

Kyle Bosa looked down at his cards and quickly folded the small blind.

"Alright Mister Kort, it's you and me," Daisy said, stretching her thin arms high up into the air.

"Chance to get you back for bluffing me earlier," Lee murmured, looking down at his cards. "Oh boy, oh boy." He looked back up. "Alright, I think this could be the one."

Daisy shrugged. "Gotta do what you gotta do."

"It's a little loose," he continued. "You definitely have the best hand right now, I'll...I'll go out on a limb and say that." His eyebrows raised up a bit. "But I think I've got to take a shot to get it down to heads up."

He considered things for a moment, looking over at Daisy's small remaining chipstack. "Oh, wow, you haven't used your timebank chips yet."

"Who needs em?" Daisy said.

"Alright. I call." He grabbed a stack of black chips and slapped them forward towards the pot.

"You're definitely not in terrible shape," Daisy said, turning over the five of hearts and five of diamonds. "Whatever you have, it can't be that bad."

Lee nodded, showing the king of hearts and queen of clubs.

"Alright, it's a race," Daisy said, turning over her shoulder to look at Takeru, Ken and Hikari up at the rail. "Racing for my tournament life!"

The dealer slid the burn card out next to the pot, then flopped out the ten of hearts, nine of clubs, and two of hearts onto the board.

Daisy blinked a couple times, then her face wrinkled up a bit. "Oh, that...crap, that made you more outs, didn't it?"

"Yeah, it did," Takeru replied. "See, Daisy, when a player gets a hand of five cards that are in sequential order, it's called a straight, and—"

Daisy lowered her right arm to her side, curling her hand up towards her back and subtly extending her middle finger towards Takeru behind her back. "Yeah, I was thinking, that's a good flop, no paint out there, I...and then a jack would have come, and I would have thought, there's another good card."

The dealer turned over the queen of diamonds.

Daisy grimaced. "Well, Kyle here just two-outed me for most of my chips on the last hand, so I am owed a two-outer."

"My two-outer had five chances to hit though," Kyle pointed out. "Little harder this time."

Daisy clapped her hands together nervously. "Alright, she's either gonna hit it or miss it."

The river card, the ace of hearts, completed the hand.

"Good playing with you two," Daisy said, reaching over to shake Lee Kort's hand. "Enjoy the rest of the fight."

Quickly, Daisy scurried over towards the railing, beaming a pearly-white smile as she quickly got over to her friends. "One point one million dollars!" She leapt into the air as she approached the rail, letting Takeru catch her and pick her up over the small barrier. "Seven. Figure. Score!"

"That's how you show these Panok elitists how we roll!" Ken said, clapping her on the back.

"Well, someone had to," Daisy said. "You two donkeys blast a hundred grand into this tournament with nothing to show for it, someone has to do SOMETHING."

"Hey, you didn't even win, so chill out with that talk," Takeru chided. "You made the podium, third place gets you on the podium, but you're a couple heads short of the winner's circle."

"I feel like a winner, and that's what matters." She wrapped her arm around Hikari's shoulders and pulled her in closer to her. "I don't need that gaudy trophy, who wants that thing in their house? Isn't that right, Hikari?"

"Do I have to be the asshole that points out that the trophy looks like a dildo?" Ken muttered, looking over at the glinting reward for coming in first, out on a pedestal a few feet away from the table. "Like, did nobody look at it before they decided to use it?"

"Yeah, so why would I want it? I have plenty of those," Daisy said airily, causing Takeru to snort out loudly. "Okay, but seriously though, did I overplay aces on the second-to-last hand?" She turned to Takeru. "I kinda feel like I might have, maybe I should have just check-called?"

"You're three-handed, it's almost impossible to overplay aces when it's three-handed." Takeru shrugged. "It's just a cooler." He leaned in and kissed Daisy on the cheek. "I really am proud of you, you played great these last two days, best poker of your life."

OOO

~Hikari~

"You might not be able to tell because of the sunglasses," Daisy said, holding the oversized beach ball in her arms. "But every male eye here is on us right now. Probably most of the female eyes too."

"On you, maybe," Hikari replied wryly, arms crossed over her chest, hands on the opposite forearm, looking around at the assorted groups of people gathered around the wading pool. Midday heat baked everything that wasn't shaded, and Hikari enjoyed the contrast of the suns rays on her upper half and the cool water on her legs.

Daisy, wearing her golden bikini, flung the large ball across the pool, towards a group of young teenagers wading around. "No, you look great, I'm serious."

"Everyone here looks great," Hikari pointed out. "It's like there are bouncers right outside that don't let you in unless you have a six-pack or an hourglass figure." She looked over at Daisy. "But you're on another level."

Daisy looked around the pool. "You know how to swim?"

"Not even a little bit," Hikari replied. "If I fall over, please help me get up, because I'm definitely gonna panic."

"Just stand up," Daisy said. "You fall over, you just stand up. That's how they teach you."

Hikari squinted up towards the sky for a moment. "How do you do it?"

"Oh...good genes, dieting, strict exercise, thousands of dollars of skin care—"

"No, no, I mean...the poker thing." Hikari cleared her throat, looking back over at her. "I mean, not that you're any different from any other player, but...how do you put it all on the line like that?"

"You mean in general?" Daisy asked, bending down slightly to put more of her torso under the water.

"Well, I mean, like today, when you did that big bluff with seven players left," Hikari explained. "I've seen...Takeru do stuff like that before too, and at first I just figured it was some sort of...special power that he had. I didn't understand how the game worked then, but...how do you get yourself to do something like that?"

"If I wasn't willing to take chances, I'd find another job," Daisy pointed out. "Or just focus on my modeling and acting career. Gambling is part of the profession."

"Well, sure, but...like, today. You're sitting there, you've got one of the...the bigger stacks in the tournament, there's like...half a million dollar difference between seventh and fourth or whatever it was, you can just sleep your way to your biggest poker cash ever, and you risk your whole tournament on a bluff." She shrugged. "Gambling is one thing, but...how can you take that chance without...without even showing anything. How do you even consider making a play like that when there's so much risk?"

"If you're trying to say my play was bad, then I don't entirely disagree," Daisy said airily, holding her arm up towards Takeru and Ken sitting by the edge of the pool. Takeru threw a sealed bottle of a clear liquid towards her. She caught it in her right hand. "Plenty of good reasons to fold the turn, or check the flop, save chips, outlast the short stacks."

"I didn't say it was a bad play, n-not at all," Hikari protested. "It's a great play, but how do you get yourself to try that? That's what I don't understand."

"Hm." Daisy took a long sip from the bottle. "Well, when you were playing with us a few weeks ago, and you bluffed Sammy with the seven deuce, how did you do that?"

Hikari shrugged. "That didn't mean anything to me, it wasn't even my money. And I'm not a poker player, so...I don't care what happens. You're...this is what you do, this is huge for your career, it's totally different."

"Well." Daisy thought for a moment. "My mother's rich. My father's rich. My stepfather's rich. That helps an awful lot when I'm risking huge sums of money. Not gonna end up homeless if things don't go right."

"Yeah, but still," Hikari replied. "What do you tell yourself in a situation like that?"

Daisy thought for a moment, lip curling around. "I just let it all in."

"What do you mean?" Hikari asked.

"First, I sit there for a couple seconds, and I quickly decide what play produces the most expected value." She took another drink from the bottle. "Do I think my queens are the best hand at that point? Almost definitely not, he's got at least an ace. Do I think he's checking a flush after leading out on the turn? Very rarely, that fourth spade has to scare him. Can I represent a big spade with a half-pot bet the way the hand has gone? Yes." She swallowed down. "And then, once I figure that out, I just give myself five seconds to think about how bad this could be."

"You just let yourself get scared?" Hikari said.

"Right." Daisy nodded. "For five seconds, I let myself just think about it. He's trapping with the nut flush, I'm gonna get snapped, he's going to hero with two pair or something, it's going to be so embarrassing when I have to show everyone I played queens like that, that hand is going to be shown on highlight reels for weeks as an example of a horrible blowup, I'm going to get slammed for ignoring ICM and pay jumps, the public will think less of me as a player...the worst possible things that could happen, I just let myself be terrified about all of it for five seconds." She tossed the bottle back towards Takeru. "And then, once you let all that fear go through you, once you've lived the worst case scenarios out in your head, you can just...you do it. Those five seconds, it really liberates you."

"That's...kind of odd," Hikari said. "Thought it would be the other way around."

"Trying to supress the fear, I don't think that helps you. You can just accept it instead, accept that it's part of it, let it get to you for five seconds...then, you do it anyway." She nodded. "I've always found that useful."

OOO

~Takeru~

"God damn, she looks phenomenal," Ken muttered as Takeru set the bottle down on the ground below his seat. "I can say that, right?"

"Well, you just did, so clearly you can," Takeru replied.

"You don't mind it though?" Ken asked, laying back on the horizontal beach chair.

"Do I look like I mind?" Takeru asked, looking over at his friend. "I know I've got nothing to worry about with you, you can say or think whatever you want."

"Is that a fact?" Ken questioned. "Nothing to worry about with me? Come on, you know better than just about anyone that my track record is pretty sterling. Don't give me that, you don't have anything that I don't have."

"Oh, yeah?" Takeru raised his right arm up in the air, pointing at his forearm. "I believe I have...what is it, four bracelets? You have one. What sane woman is taking a downgrade like that?"

Ken gave a small smile. "Alright, alright, just remember who I slaughtered on my way to that one bracelet." He glanced around the fairly peaceful pool boarder. "So, Brugal it is, then."

"We're done in Panok?" Takeru asked. "You sure?"

"I know, leaving this place is never fun," Ken agreed. "I've seen enough from here. He's definitely got an obscene amount of money here, no question about it. And it can't just be a coincidence that he's got that two seater plane jumping back and forth between here and Brugal. That plane isn't big enough to carry anything of substance, I'm hoping it's paperwork. Might be something of use."

Takeru's forehead wrinkled. "Brugal...don't they have a high roller starting in three days?"

Ken put his arms out to his sides. "That's the beauty of this whole thing, my friend. There are big tournaments everywhere, it's like the perfect cover. Just in case anyone would actually be suspicious of us traveling the world like this...hey, we're just kids who are trying to hit as many tournaments as possible."

"Alright then." Takeru nodded. "So, we follow the trail, and take the world by storm while we're at it. I like it. We'll leave tonight."

The two were silent for a moment. "What do you think about Hikari?"

"What do you mean?" Takeru asked. "What about her?"

Ken shrugged, clearing his throat. "I just mean...the relationship you guys have, it's...is she really just going to follow you around for the rest of your life." He raised an eyebrow. "You don't honestly think that...she's responsible for you running good, do you? Are you really going to have her do this for...fifty years? What happens if you stop running good? You just gonna get rid of her?"

"No, no," Takeru said quickly. "No, she's..." he gestured his hands out towards her. "She's good company, isn't she? She's fun to have around, don't you think? I'd be happy to keep her around even without all the...luck stuff."

Ken put his hand up towards his mouth, chewing on the tip of his thumbnail. "I mean, she's technially yours, but it doesn't really feel like that. I don't know if you can pick up on this, since you're in the middle of it, but...it's a very strange relationship you have with her. You don't see things like this that often."

"I don't think she's unhappy," Takeru said. "I really don't think she's upset with the way things are." He blinked a few times. "I don't even really think about her as my property anymore, she...we're just having a good time. I think she's having a good time, anyway. If you wanna go by-the-book, she's still my property, but that's honestly not even something I take into consideration anymore."

"Okay, but...what do you view her as?" Ken asked. "Is she...is she like your friend? Is she your partner? Employee? Sister?"

Takeru thought for a moment. "You know, maybe...maybe they need to come up with a new word. As far as I'm concerned, we're just traveling the world together and having a good time. Maybe she's following orders, but it's not like I'm forcing her to do it."

Ken bit down on his cheek for a moment. "But just, for the sake of argument...what happens if she were to...suddenly decide she wants more out of life? What if she decided that following you around and watching you play just wasn't fulfilling to her? What happens then?"

Takeru's eyebrows raised up for a moment. "Haven't paid much mind to that possibility. My mind has enough things running through it right now."

"Okay, but...you're empowering her, right? You're treating her like an equal, you're giving her nice things, you're basically treating her like you would a friend, or even your sister, but...if she were to say she wants to do something else. Do you pull rank on her? Is that something you'd feel okay doing?"

"Why are you making me think?" Takeru said, in a faux-whiny tone. "You're making my head hurt. I'm not as smart as you, I get it. Look, I...I really don't see that happening. If she does...I'll figure it out as I go along. But it's not exactly a pressing issue to me."

"Nothing wrong with that," Ken said. "But I just think you should consider the possibility that a life filled with little more than watching you play poker might not be the most desirable. She could end up wanting more." He shrugged. "Just something to think about."


	38. Chasing

Chapter 38: Chasing

"The only times that it gets hard for me is when I'm playing different games at the same time," Danilo said, looking down at his two cards and tossing them over towards the muck. "Playing...eight tables of Holdem at once, that's just like breathing to me, but if you get me playing...Holdem on two tables, Omaha on two tables, Stud on two tables, and Razz on two tables, then it becomes one hell of a juggling act. That's actually pretty hard."

"Pretty hard?" Takeru repeated. "Pretty hard?" He shook his head. "You online guys, I...you guys make me feel inadequate, really."

"Nobody can make you feel inadequate," Tom Bonomo said. "You're Takeru Ishida. The Prince of Poker."

"Such a bad nickname," Takeru grumbled. "So bad. So corny. I feel like someone...forty years ago should have gotten stuck with that nickname, and I should get something a little more intricate."

"So we have official word from Takeru that he does NOT care for his nickname. Duly noted. But people don't get to pick their nicknames, so he'll just have to get used to it. Harold folds the hijack, nobody has opened this pot yet. For those of you just joining us, we're a few hours into the World Poker Tour's Brugal High Roller event, still have most of our players alive. Twenty-five thousand dollar entry fee, and rebuys are on. Any player who busts out can rebuy back into the tournament for twenty-five grand extra, so our prize pool is actually still growing. Rebuy period ends in about an hour."

Takeru looked down at his cards.

"Looks like we're gonna play Guess The Cards this hand, so we're not going to see Takeru's hole cards until the hand is over. Takeru is on the button here."

"Well, if we're playing Guess The Cards with his hand, I can only assume that means he's going to get involved, but that doesn't really tell us anything. Button raises can mean absolutely anything."

Takeru grabbed three light blue chips and two black chips, sliding them out into the pot.

"Takeru has raised here, that's a raise to...thirty-two hundred. The big blind was fourteen hundred, so it's...about two and a half times the big blind."

"Takeru had about...one hundred and seventy grand in chips to start his hand, so...really can't make any determinations on his cards yet, his button opening range is obviously extremely wide."

Mitch Rodriguez, after seeing the small blind to his right fold his hand, looked down at what he had.

"Well, I'm sure Mitch is going to at least call here, I don't think we'd put on Guess The Cards if the hand didn't actually have some action. Mitch is holding jack nine of spades."

Mitch threw out two light blue chips, taking back two blacks from his big blind.

"Alright, we've got two players to the flop. We know what Mitch has, Takeru's holdings are a secret. Both players have nearly identical stacks, Mitch has about...three thousand more chips."

The dealer put down ten of hearts, eight of hearts, and three of hearts.

"Well, ten eight three flop, all hearts. Actually a pretty good flop for Mitch, he's got an...up-and-down straight draw, needs a seven or a queen."

Mitch checked, tapping the table.

"Yeah, pretty good flop, but there are three hearts out there, so maybe not a great flop, but it's hard to flop a flush, you can't just give Takeru credit for a flush automatically regardless of how the action goes."

Takeru tossed out four light blue chips in short order.

"The pot is eight point three thousand, Takeru bets less than half of it, that is a continuation bet of four grand. Still don't really know anything about Takeru's hand, he's opening the button with a ton of stuff, and he's going to c-bet the flop with a ton of stuff."

Mitch pursed his lips, looking down at his chips, then back up to the flop.

"Rodriguez has to at least call here, I think, even with the...hearts out there, he's flopped quite well. He's got the straight draw and one overcard. And it's pretty cheap as well, only four thousand more."

Mitch got out a full stack of light blue chips, taking seven off of the top of the column, and pushing the larger stack in.

"He might even check-raise, and...yes, that is exactly what's happening here, he's check-raising as a semi-bluff, that is a raise to thirteen thousand, so nine thousand more. Bold play, but I like it. Pushes the pot to over twenty-five grand, and could take it down right now."

Takeru shuffled a small pile of chips around for a moment, staring down at the board.

"So, if Takeru just has nothing, or some sort of small pocket pair, we'll see him fold. But it looks like he's going to make this call, so he certainly has to have something if he's sticking around."

Takeru slid out a stack of light blue chips, nine high, calling the raise.

"Yes, he has called, and Mitch is not happy about this, he...he was definitely hoping Takeru didn't have a piece of that flop and would just have to fold."

"So, Takeru could have...he could have a pocket pair, jacks or better. Could have a ten or an eight. He might have a big heart in his hand, ace, king, or queen of hearts. He could have a straight draw with a big heart, like queen jack with the queen of hearts."

"Does he ever have a flush or set?"

The dealer spun out the seven of clubs.

"I don't think so, but...ooh, Mitch has made his hand, that seven gives him the jack high straight, Mitch getting at least a little happier here."

"Yeah, he still has to be a little concerned about the three hearts, but he usually has the best hand here with the nut straight. As for Takeru, I feel like...if he had a flush or a set, or possibly even two pair, he'd re-raise the flop. Maybe he'd just call with the nut flush to trap, but with smaller flushes, you want to protect against a fourth heart in case your opponent has the ace of hearts. But Takeru is capable of just about anything, so I guess you can't rule it out."

Mitch tossed out a green chip along with eight light blue chips.

"Yeah, Mitch isn't quite thrilled yet, but he's going to bet here, Takeru just has a ton of hands here like...you know, ace ten with the ace of hearts. A pair and a draw, or maybe combo draws, that Mitch can't give a free card to. If Takeru did flop a flush, then so be it, but you've got to play your hand like the monster that it is."

Takeru built a small stack of chips, one green and eight light blue, and pushed it out.

"Takeru IS going to make the call, this pot is over seventy thousand, and...what would Takeru play like this?"

"Uh...well, I don't think he has a naked pair anymore. I think at the minimum, he has a pair and draw, like ten nine, or a pair with a big heart. Might be a combo draw as well. My feeling is that he has the ace of hearts in his hand, but I don't know what the other card is yet."

The dealer burned and rivered the seven of spades.

"Okay, the board pairs on the turn, so two sevens out there, not really a good card for Mitch. He's now losing to...quite a few hands that Takeru could have that he was beating on the turn. So Mitch, I think he's got two choices here, he can either check to call, or bet with the plan of folding to a raise."

Mitch, after taking a few seconds, pointed over towards Takeru.

"He is checking here, action over to Takeru, and...well, if that seven helped him, he'll probably bet here for value. And if he had a big heart in his hand that missed the flush, he could also bet here as a bluff, since that seven looks like a bad card for Mitch. What's he gonna do?"

Takeru shuffled a stack of black chips around, glancing around the table, eyeballs spinning about.

"I think it would make some sense for Takeru to have hands like...ten seven or eight seven here, so those hands are definitely worth a value bet here. He could have flopped a set as well, he might have...played cautiously because of the three hearts out there. If he has one of those hands, he'll probably fire out like...thirty-five to forty thousand for value, and I think Mitch will have to call, even if he doesn't love it. If he has just a pair, like maybe he had a pair of tens and a flush draw, he'll check and hope that Mitch has the big heart that bricked out."

"All-in," Takeru said.

"Whoooaaa, Takeru SHOVES here! He shoves one hundred and thirty-five thousand into seventy thousand, that's nearly double the pot, and...wow, what's Mitch gonna do here?!"

Mitch winced, grimacing as he looked over at Takeru.

"What...what kind of bet is that by Takeru?! What does he have that he would risk his entire stack on?! Such a sick spot for Mitch, he looks like he's gonna be sick, and I can't blame him!"

Mitch sighed heavily. "Wow."

"I mean, when Takeru shoves for double the pot here, he's got only a few kinds of hands. He can have a full house, I...I guess maybe quads too. He can have a flush, probably a big flush, the nut flush. And then he has bluffs, like the dry ace of hearts or king of hearts, hands that missed that he's trying to buy the pot with. And if you're Mitch, you must be thinking that...that Takeru wouldn't risk ALL his chips on a bluff, right? But then again, if he had a big hand like a full house, wouldn't he bet normally so he can get called by weaker hands?"

Mitch tossed a blue coaster towards the dealer.

"Yeah, THIS is a hand to use your timebank chip, he's got an extra minute to think about this. If he calls and gets it wrong, he's basically out of the tournament, he'll have about two big blinds left. Obviously he can rebuy, but...not everyone has the extra twenty-five grand laying around. And with the way this hand went, Mitch can only beat bluffs, and...man, I guess a player like Takeru is capable of anything, but I'm just not sure he's betting double the pot on a bluff when it sort of looks like Mitch has a flush!"

"I call," Mitch said, tossing a handful of chips out into the pot.

"Oh, we've got a call, so we're gonna find out what Takeru had!"

Takeru turned over the ten of clubs and ten of diamonds.

"And Takeru had pocket tens! He had top set which filled up on the river!"

Mitch nodded. "Yeah, that's a...good hand."

"Wow, and...what a sick hand, that might be the sickest hand of the tournament so far! That is a three hundred and forty-one thousand chip pot, and it's going to Takeru, he got FULL value out of his hand! Most players would NOT have taken that line on the river, but Takeru decided to go for it all and he got it!"

"I'm probably not even gonna look at my cards this hand," Mitch said, with a thin smile as almost all of his chips were sent over to Takeru. "Just going in with whatever."

"I don't think you can fault Mitch for calling there, Takeru has shown the ability to pull off big bluffs in recent tournaments, and it's hard to let go of a straight. I'm sure he was going to instantly call a bet of...thirty-five thousand, maybe fifty thousand at most, but Takeru decided he wasn't going to let him off so easy!"

"Yeah, he...he got the sense that Mitch had a big hand that he liked, but didn't love, and felt like he was planning to check-call a normal-sized bet, and he figured...if he's going to call fifty grand, maybe he'll call the whole thing. What a great play!"

OOO

"So this is Takeru's first ever tournament cash in a non-world series event. It's also his first ever cash in a tournament on this side of the globe."

"Got any other useless statistics for us, Jim?"

"Hey, our statistics department resents that!"

Takeru scratched the bridge of his nose. "I spent forty dollars on a bowl of soup in Panok. If you're gonna go, you better have some serious spending money. I don't even think there are any cheap places to eat there." He played with a small stack of chips, spinning it around in his hand.

"He's having a good day two, looks on pace to do much more than just cash."

"It was pretty good soup, though," Ken muttered, looking down at his cards.

"Ken Ichijouji's under the gun, and he's got jack ten offsuit. This is also HIS first non-world series cash. Although his day two hasn't been quite so good."

"Jack ten is tempting, but given position and stack sizes, he probably shouldn't get involved. He's only got about forty big blinds here."

Ken fired out two purple chips along with a light blue one.

"He is going to get involved, he raises to eleven thousand."

Ike Tate glanced down at his cards before quickly folding.

"Day two of the Brugal High Roller continues on, with all remaining players in the money. We started with three hundred and ninety-five players, down to fifty-eight now. Prize pool has been juiced up by rebuys, we had a total of forty-five extra buyins. Blinds are twenty-five hundred and five thousand with a thousand chip ante."

Takeru, after having action folded around to him, had a glance down at the ace of diamonds and five of hearts.

"Takeru's in the small blind with the bad ace. Hasn't folded yet."

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that there MIGHT be some history between these two players. You know, it's possible they've played a few hands together over the years."

Takeru gathered together five purple chips and placed four light blue ones on top of them, pushing this stack out and taking his small blind back.

"That is a RAISE to twenty-nine thousand. Takeru does have a good stack, he's right around four hundred thousand, and he's going to try to wield it. Gets the big blind to fold."

"This has to be a product of the history these two players no doubt have. About as non-standard a play as you'll find in high level poker to re-raise with a bad ace from the blinds."

Ken rubbed his chin, looking over at the chips Takeru had just pushed in.

"We actually just got word that Miyako Inoue, Ken's girlfriend, was just eliminated from the ten thousand dollar buyin event in the Lodden Nationals in seventh place, good for a cash of over six hundred thousand dollars. Ken probably doesn't know yet, but surely he knew that she was making a deep run."

"Another young professional making waves."

Ken tossed out four purple chips, the dealer quickly firing two light blue ones back towards him.

"Ken will make the call. We've got a pretty significant pot here. Ken is the effective stack, he's got about one-seventy behind. Takeru leads with ace high."

"His hand is a little light to be calling a re-raise, but it was a pretty small re-raise, so he might have felt priced in. These two good friends might be having a bit of a water closet contest."

The dealer put down the three of clubs, two of diamonds, and jack of diamonds.

"Takeru leads no longer, Ken makes top pair. Takeru has a gutshot wheel draw."

Takeru looked down at his chips for a few seconds.

"And what's up with the small three-bet out of position with a bad ace? I would call these plays by both players bad, but I assume there's more going on here than just meets the eye."

Takeru tossed out four purple chips.

"Finally we get a standard play out of this hand, Takeru continues with ace high and a gutshot for twenty grand."

"Fairly dry board, Ken will have to fold a lot of hands here. He will NOT be folding the hand he has."

Ken quickly parsed through his chips, getting together eight purples and two light blues.

"Looks like he's putting together a raise, and not a particularly big one either, that's..forty-two thousand, basically a min-raise!"

"Another strange play! Even though he has top pair, his hand isn't really good enough to be raising for value. And the min-raise isn't likely going to get rid of any hands that have equity."

Takeru's eyes narrowed a couple millimeters as he shuffled some chips around.

"Well...Takeru isn't ready to release quite yet. Maybe he's putting Ken on the diamond flush draw."

"Takeru knows that he has the ace of diamonds in his hand, so if Ken has a flush draw, it can't be the ace-high flush draw. Which would mean that Takeru's ace-high would currently be the best hand. He might actually call thinking he has the best hand with ace high."

Takeru tossed out four more purple chips and two light blue ones.

"He does call, and this play is actually working out well for Ken. It seems like he's got Takeru thinking he has a semi-bluff when he actually has marginal value. One hundred and thirty-seven thousand in the middle."

The turn card produced the three of spades.

"Board pairs on the turn. Ken shouldn't be TOO worried about Takeru having a three here."

"But then again, he's here with ace five off, so I guess anything's possible."

Takeru thought for a moment, then tapped the felt.

"Ken's got less than pot behind, I could definitely see a shove here."

Ken covered his mouth with his right hand, left hand playing with his chips.

"You know, if Takeru thought his ace high was the best hand on the flop, then it'd still be the best hand with that turn card...any chance he calls a shove here?"

Ken tapped the table with his left hand.

"Well, Ken does not shove, he checks behind, and...I'm not sure if Takeru could have done it, but it probably would have at least run through his mind. Really fascinating hand."

The dealer put down the four of spades.

"And that river card might LOOK like a blank, but it has given Takeru a straight!"

"Worst card EVER for Ken, he's very unlikely to think that river changed anything. At least an ace would have be a little more transparent."

Takeru pushed out a stack of seventeen purple chips.

"There's the value bet from Takeru, eighty-five thousand into one hundred and thirty-seven thousand."

Ken raised an eyebrow over at the stack, a mildly pained look on his face.

"Ken looks like he's realizing he's beat here...I don't think he can fold after playing his hand so bizarrely though. I mean, Takeru could easily be bluffing here after the line that Ken has taken."

"If you had gone all-in there, I would have snap-called," Ken said. "Now I kinda feel like you've got me. Pretty sick. I don't think I can fold though." He rolled his eyes, then pushed a handful of chips out towards the pot.

Takeru turned over his ace five.

"Oof. You got rivered."

Ken shook his head back and forth slowly. "I played this hand so good, too. Like, you have no idea." He slid his cards over towards the dealer. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep, settling breath. "I had you so bad, you have no idea."

"This is a pretty brutal one, really. Ken's down below nine big blinds."

Takeru gave a knowing smile. "Yeah, you...I couldn't put you on a hand."

"Meanwhile, Takeru's stellar run continues! He's looking to make a very big cash here at his first ever high roller event!"

OOO

~Takeru~

"You know, that actually kind of gets on my nerves," Takeru said as he came to a stop right in front of the railing, looking over at Ken, Hikari, and Daisy. "I'm a...I'm not an eleventh place kind of guy, I'm a final table sort of guy. Eleventh place, not so good."

"Well, I just feel horrible for you," Ken replied dryly. "Quintupling your buy-in, terrible thing to happen."

"Yeah, but I feel like I felt just a tiny bit short of the real big payjumps," Takeru said. "If I had just held on for maybe another...half-hour, I could have really made a big score."

"Because there's absolutely nothing big about a hundred thousand dollar profit," Daisy said. "Alright, champ, I wanna go tour the castle, are we done here?"

Takeru glanced around the poker room. "Well, actually, before we—"

"S-sir?!"

A short woman with bright red hair pushed her way through the building crowd around the railing, making her way inbetween large, crammed-together bodies.

"Ah, here we go," Takeru said, reaching into his jacket pocket. "Lauren, I believe I saw your name up on the board, twentieth?"

"That's right," she said, finally pushing over next to Takeru. "Twentieth. Eighty-four thousand."

"You don't do that well by accident!" Ken said, reaching out and patting her shoulder. "Well done, better than I did."

"If I can be as good one day as you are right now, sir, it'd be beyond even my wildest dreams," Lauren replied, turning towards Ken.

"Oh, man, so formal," Takeru said. "Anyways, let's do this the civilized way." He pulled his personal assistant out of his pocket. "Not much technology in this city, let's make sure we remember we're not cavemen."

"This city is beautiful," Daisy protested. "Don't knock it. It's like something out of a fairy tale. I'd live here in a heartbeat if the opportunity came up."

"Sure, I would too, if they'd let me live in the castle," Takeru said with a laugh. "Now, I believe forty percent of your payout is...thirty-seven thousand?"

"Thirty-seven thousand and six hundred and sixty," Lauren answered. "Already counted it out. And thank you so much for giving me the chance to play this tournament, it's...gonna do wonders for my career."

"Your career deserves it, you can play," Takeru said, tapping along his screen. "I'm happy to stake skilled amateurs. I'm giving out wings over here!"

OOO

~Hikari~

The peacefulness of her surroundings struck her. It felt almost like a different planet in comparison to her previous visits. Cities like Branson and Panok were very busy, and very flashy, with a lot of activity at all hours of the day.

In comparison, Brugal felt sparsely populated, with minimal pedestrian traffic. There were fewer lights and colors were more subdued. Cars were practically uncommon on the streets. The brisk, cold weather contrasted drastically with the high temperatures she had been exposed to in recent times.

"It's a city preserved in a time bubble," Ken mused, looking around the brown, brick buildings lining either side of the road. "It really does feel like a time machine."

"Slow down with the purple prose," Daisy said teasingly, hugging her trenchcoat more tightly around her torso. "They've still got computers and cars. Just in a pretty package."

"From the outside, it really does feel like going back a few hundred years," Ken continued. "This place was a capital of the world five hundred years ago. The kings of the old world lived here. This place used to really, really matter."

"It is nice that there's one place in the world left like this," Takeru admitted, glancing through the large pane of glass that acted as a window into one of the shops.

"Why is it still like this?" Hikari asked, looking around at the various shop windows. "Is there a reason why it doesn't change?"

"Tourism," Takeru answered. "The people who run the city hundreds of years ago decided...we've got a beautiful town, why change it to keep up with everyone else? And then one day, they looked up and realized they were centuries behind everyone else. They could have decided that was a problem, but they luckily saw an opportunity. They preserved it, sort of a monument to the old days. I don't think anyone can say they made a mistake."

"Oh, there we are," Ken said, pointing upwards as the quartet came around a street corner. "There's the old center of the universe."

Down the street, a massive structure loomed, a massive wall of stone protecting giant towers of stone. Hikari had known massive living structures in her life, of course, but this was orders of magnitude beyond anything she had known before.

"It doesn't even have a name," Daisy said. "They just call it The Castle. You say The Castle, and people know what you're talking about."

"What do you think, honey?" Takeru asked wryly. "One day, when I've got billions of dollars that I don't know what to do with, I buy The Castle, we live in there?"

Daisy smirked. "That kind of cheapens the city if it's main attraction becomes private property," she pointed out. "Ruins the whole thing."

"Yeah...that'd be a shame," Takeru admitted, shrugging. "But it'd be worth it, wouldn't it?"

"Where the hell are you gonna get billions of dollars?" Ken questioned. "That's a lot of super high rollers you're planning on winning."

"I've got more than one source of income planned, my friend," Takeru pointed out. "Alright, maybe the whole castle is out of our grasp right now, but we can definitely stay in one of the rooms."

OOO

The interior of the massive castle felt almost intimidating to stand in, typically not an attribute you would want your hotel to have. Doubtlessly, the imposing nature of the building was desirable back when it was serving it's original purpose. It was inexplicable that people actually wanted to spend the night here, much less spend large amounts of money to do so. And yet, clearly, wealthy people were willing to do so on a regular basis.

Tugging on the brass ring attached to the door, Takeru was able to slowly ease the large wooden surface open on it's hinges with a loud groan. "They don't make em like this anymore."

"Not drafty in here at all," Ken marveled, looking around at the walls of stone and mortar. "It might look like a simple build, but...the quality and worksmanship in here is pretty amazing."

Takeru looked around the room after pulling the door open, nodding slowly. "I wonder what this room used to be." He turned towards Hikari. "Hey, uh, can you spend a couple hours with Ken?"

"I charge a hundred and fifty an hour for babysitting," Ken interjected. "Money up front."

"Maybe she's the one babysitting you," Daisy said. "Ever think of that?"

"I mean, there's a zero percent chance I'm going to spend the night in here and NOT have some very intense intercourse, so may as well do it now," Takeru said, stepping into the large room and shrugging his trenchcoat off. "I'd hate to keep Hikari up at night."

"So thoughtful," Hikari said sarcastically. "Alright, you two have fun."

"Oh, your Majesty!" Daisy said with a cartoonish enthusiasm, entering the room, pulling her red scarf off of her neck as she stepped towards Takeru. "Such a beautiful palace you have for yourself!"

Ken reached over and quickly slammed the heavy brown door shut once Daisy had entered. "That's quite enough of that," he muttered.

Hikari glanced around the hallway, looking back and forth at the various decorations along the stone walls. "So...uh—"

"Don't get me wrong, if Miyako was here, I'd probably be doing the same thing," Ken admitted.

OOO

Ken held up an approximately finger-sized marble statue, carved roughly into the shape of a horse's head. "Yeah, this piece is probably the most complicated."

"This whole game is complicated," Hikari said, scratching the side of her head, looking down at the board of alternating white and black squares with assorted marble pieces atop it. "If you're looking for someone to play against, I really don't see myself as someone who can give you a good match." She held up a piece that resembled a tower on a castle. "Absolute mystery, what does this one do again?"

"Moves in straight lines," Ken explained. "It does take awhile to figure this one out, but...this is a great game. I was the best at it back at Skyridge, picked up the game from my dad when I was little. Before poker, even."

"How'd you end up playing poker professionally?" Hikari asked.

"You can't make millions of dollars playing chess," Ken answered. "This is a game for the intellectual elites, never did find the mainstream. But I love it."

"I don't think I could have handled all this even before this," Hikari said, holding up a glass bottle, the last dregs of an orange liquid down at the bottom of it. "After this? Not a chance."

"You liking that?" Ken asked, pointing at the bottle.

"Well, I drank the whole thing, so..." Hikari trailed off, setting the bottle back down. "It's pretty good, and I'm definitely feeling a little looser, so...can't complain." She looked over at Ken, squinting. "Say, uh...if you were to, like...grow a beard or mustache, would it be blue?"

Ken's eyes widened slightly, unconsciously reaching up towards his cheek. "W-what?"

"Like, if you grew facial hair, does it...does it come out blue?"

Ken blinked a few times. "Why...yes, it does," Ken admitted. "It's blue, yeah."

"You ever think about doing something with that?" Hikari asked. "Because that might be kind of cool."

"Uh...no, not really," Ken said, grimacing a bit. "Not so sure how cool it would be, really."

"A blue beard, I think...I've never seen that before," Hikari said. "I'd do that, it's...it's like a signature. Nobody else has that, you could like...corner the market on blue beards."

"Uh...kind of an interesting idea," Ken said cautiously. "I, uh...not sure that's me."

Hikari gave a little laugh. "Just, something to think about...blue mustache. I've never seen one of those before."

"Might be a reason for that," Ken said, clearing his throat. "I feel like Miyako might object. I think she likes the smooth face."

Hikari shrugged. "How would she know if you never try it?"

"I should try to get her to fly out here, actually," Ken mused. "She'd like it here, we gotta do something to celebrate final tabling the Lodden Nationals...and if he gets to hump Daisy's brains out three times every freaking day, I should be able to get some action too."

Hikari nodded. "Sounds like fun." She thought for a moment, picking up of the marble pieces, the tallest one with a small cross atop it. "How'd you, uh...how'd you two end up together?"

Ken thought for a moment. "You know, I...when I was at Skyridge, I definitely made the rounds, and I had plenty of fun, but...I wanted to be with someone who could challenge me intellectually." He smirked. "And, if I may be perfectly honest...there aren't that many people out there who can really do that."

"I believe you," Hikari replied, setting the piece back down on the board. "It's your...your voice. You have the voice of a smart person, you know? I listen to you talk for five seconds, and I just get the sense that you're one of those types."

"That's really all there is to it," Ken said, shrugging. "I don't have some...crazy story or anything. It just happened." He pointed down at the gameboard. "Chess club, actually, I remember we were both part of that. Got to know each other a bit there."

"When you...when you grow up like I did, you just never really figure out how people meet each other," Hikari mused. "I mean, there are obviously...breeders who just get matched up, but you don't really ever meet anyone in a romantic context in that world."

"Not a lot of time for that sort of thing," Ken agreed. "I can see that."

Hikari gave a tiny smile. "Hey, uh...can I...can I tell you something funny?"

Ken shrugged. "I dunno. Can you?"

Hikari's eyebrow raised a bit. "Uh..."

"I assume you mean you want to tell me something you don't want me to share with others?" Ken guessed. "I can't promise anything for sure. Of course, as long as you don't tell me that you're...planning to murder someone, I think you'll be alright."

Hikari gave a little laugh. "This is...this might be the drink talking, but...I don't know, what you said just kind of got me thinking." She glanced around. "I...I was actually thinking about Takeru." She scratched at the bridge of her nose. "Maybe it's just because he's one of the only guys I ever spend any time with, but...I just really felt something. I thought I did."

Ken blinked a few times. "W-wait, you mean...you actually thought Takeru might have been into you like that?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Hikari said, rolling her eyes. "I forgot...basically everything about the reality of the situation. I don't know, things have just gone so well for me lately, I just felt like...why not one more thing?"

"Huh," Ken said, glancing over to the wall to his right. "That's...well, that's pretty interesting." He pursed his lips. "You two go well together, I'll...I'll say that. And...you know, he's rich, smart, he's got a certain...charisma to him, I don't think there's anything wrong with being hopeful."

"Hopeful, sure, but...I was being dumb," she mused. "I, don't tell him, please, it's kind of embarrassing, just thought I'd share." She gave a hiccuping little laugh. "The delusions that you can have when you don't think about things."

"You know who I dreamed of dating when I was younger?" Ken said. "Kate Rodgers. So, I'm right there with you, that was...that was pretty damn dumb too."

"No, it's not, you're...your father's a millionaire, you're a successful professional poker player, you're brilliant, you...you can have anyone you want."

"No no no, I was...I was six years old," Ken said cautiously. "She was twenty-two, she was a television star, I just...wow, that takes me back. Don't ask me how I was getting these thoughts when I was six, but...man I liked her. Wanted her badly." He grinded his teeth together. "I mean, that's pretty dumb too, isn't it?"

"That's...that's different," Hikari insisted awkwardly. "That's just you being a kid, that's...I'll bet a lot of kids do stuff like that. Me, I...I should know better."

"Actually, thinking about it, at this point, it might be reasonable," Ken mused to himself. "She's not really a big-time star anymore, I'm...I'm a successful poker player, I've got millions, I'm...working on being a celebrity. If I ran into her at a pub or something, it's not..." Ken's forehead suddenly wrinkled. "Man, what the hell am I babbling about?" He rolled his eyes, then stuck his tongue out. "Ugh. That went to kind of a weird place."

Hikari shrugged. "At the Ripley estate, the Missus was getting all up in a nineteen-year-old at one point when she was forty-one." She grimaced. "Pool boy."

"Oh, yes, the cliches are often the best," Ken said with a small grin. "Pool boy."

"But...I was kind of thinking about it today." Hikari glanced around the room. "Daisy said earlier that this place, this city, it feels like something out of a fairy tale."

Ken nodded. "Yeah, it does have a certain charm to it that reminds you of those sorts of stories."

"I mean, that's the fairy tale, right?" Hikari gave a slanted smile. "It made me think about that. Like, you're in this horrible situation, everything seems hopeless...and then the handsome prince guy saves you, takes you to something better. And then you fall in love, and you go from being...a peasant or slave or whatever, to being a princess. That's...it's what happened to me! Well, almost."

Ken bit down lightly on his lower lip, glancing over towards the wall, in the general direction of where Takeru and Daisy were currently holed up. "Interesting."

"Just kind of made me think, that's really what it was. I thought I was...I thought I was in that fairy tale." She gave a small sigh. "I shouldn't be talking about this, shouldn't do this to myself, but...that's really what it was. I thought I was in a fairy tale. I like those stories."

Ken thought for a moment, then reached over the chessboard, patting her on the shoulder. "Hey, uh...there's nothing wrong with that. Look, I...trying to be objective here, if I was you, if I was in your position...I'd probably think about the same things." He leaned in a bit closer to her. "Besides, he's no Prince. Trust me."

"Yeah, but...he is pretty cool," Hikari said. "I, I'm over it, believe me, but being in a place like this just made me think about it."

"You know, he'd be...he'd be lucky to have you," Ken said. "I really believe that. You shouldn't feel bad about thinking that, really."

"Yeah. He's just...he's just luckier to have her." She pointed in the general direction of the wall that divided their room with Takeru's room. "What can you do?"

Ken's brow furrowed, apparently deep in some sort of thought. "Yeah." 


	39. Getting There

Chapter 39: Getting There

Takeru slowly pried up the edge of his top card, seeing the ace of clubs, then reached his thumb down slightly to peer at his bottom card, the ace of spades.

"Well...Takeru certainly won't be folding here. Middle position with a couple of black aces."

Takeru ducked his head down slightly, not moving for several seconds.

"It's amazing, really, this kid. His motor's just running constantly ever since the world series ended. We last saw him a few weeks ago for his first Premier League heat, then he went to Panok to play in some of the big games there, he went to Brugal for a high roller, it's just...he's not wasting an ounce of the name recognition he picked up at the world series. Pretty fantastic stuff."

Takeru tossed in a yellow chip towards the dealer.

"He's making a raise to ten thousand. Two and a half times the big blind, or two and a half 'X' as the kids like to say."

Junior Ware, watching the yellow chip get tossed out, looked down at the two of diamonds and four of diamonds.

"Junior Ware, oh no, he hasn't folded yet. He might be getting bad thoughts here, bad time to be having bad thoughts!"

Ware looked over at Takeru, his upper face shielded by a massive pair of skiing goggles.

"Junior, he's been playing pretty wild so far today, playing a LOT more hands than he probably should given his situation in this league, he's liable to get out of line here, this could be it for his Premier League!"

"Yeah, Junior had a poor showing in his first heat, came away with one point, and he's taken a very unconventional approach here. Most players would be tightening up, playing very conservatively, and trying to make sure they get at least a handful of points. Really not a fan of the way Junior's handling his second heat, and based on what we've seen so far, he's liable to just ship the rest of his stack in right here."

Junior tossed out one yellow chip as well.

"Junior calls with the good old deuce four suited, and...he really doesn't have very many chips left. He's already lost nearly half of his starting stack."

"Yeah, that's another reason why I really don't like this, I think it's...it's okay to gamble with hands like four deuce if you have some chips to play with, even if it was just like two hundred and eighty or something, but one sixty, I just think you have to wait for better spots."

Dan White, on the button with jack nine of hearts, threw in a yellow chip as well.

"Dan White, the internet wizard, priced in with the suited jack nine. And it's just, Junior seems like he's either going to come in first in this heat or last. He's determined to either flame out gloriously OR take home the full fourteen points, no inbetween!"

With the small blind folding, Aaron Owens tossed in six blue chips as well with six five of spades.

"Okay, four players will see our flop. Takeru well in the lead with pocket aces."

The dealer whipped out the flop, ten of clubs, ace of diamonds, five of hearts.

"Oh, well, some action on this flop, maybe. Takeru's got the nuts, top set."

"Yeah, here's Junior's chance, too, he's flopped a gutshot. Maybe he's just thinking he's in such bad shape as it is, he just has to find a spot where he has some equity and go with it."

Aaron checked, allowing Takeru to slowly start gathering chips.

"Yeah, Junior's liable to just rip the rest of his stack in when it gets around to him, you never know what he's gonna do. I guess he just figures that this Premier League has gone so bad for him so far, he's going to just gamble and hope it works out, but...man, even if he had like two hundred and fifty thousand, I'd be fine with playing four deuce. One sixty, not enough to gamble with."

Takeru fired out a yellow chip along with seven blue ones.

"Yeah, Takeru has to bet, there are too many people in the pot, and...honestly, even though he probably has to stick around after flopping well, I think Junior should fold here, he's—"

Immediately, Junior scattered out an array of blue chips, followed by a yellow one.

"Oh. My God, snap call with the gutshot. Are you kidding me? Wow. Not even a second of thought there."

Dan White folded his cards.

"Yeah, Dan had a bunch of backdoor draws, but he's gonna get out of the way here, and Aaron realizes that his pair of fives is obviously well behind here, he's folding as well. You know, it really kind of just feels like it's more than ten percent that a three falls. There's just something in the air that's making me feel like it's more than ten percent that he hits a three."

"It feels like maybe...twenty-two percent, for sure. It just feels like way better than ten percent somehow."

The dealer burned, then slapped down the three of clubs.

"O-oh my GOD, what in the hell is going on?!"

Takeru looked down at the board for a few seconds, then tapped the felt a few times with his palm.

"Oh, Takeru, Takeru is going to need an ambulance when this hand is over! He's, he's going to be SHOCKED that Junior has four deuce, it's not even running through his mind right now! As far as he's concerned, three aces is the nuts!"

"Yeah, ambulance is right. Wow. And, y'know...Takeru's only got a hundred and fifty more chips than Junior, this hand could put him in the danger zone. And, Junior, please, don't you dare check back."

"Yeah, he's never checking back, his hand is super disguised, there's...there's no way. They really might get it in right here, and if the board doesn't pair...Takeru's going to be in very bad shape in his second heat."

Junior put out five blue chips and one yellow chip.

"Well, he's going super tiny here, fifteen grand into eighty grand. This is actually kind of genius, Takeru's raising a hundred percent of the time after a bet that small. This is great."

"Yeah, that three of clubs is a total brick in Takeru's mind, he thinks that's a great card for him, I guarantee you he's giving a zero percent chance that Junior has the four deuce. He is literally going to be SHOCKED when he sees the four deuce."

Takeru pulled some chips off the top of his yellow stack and tossed it out.

"Yeah, raising to fifty thousand. Junior should just go all-in here, but he might not, he...just in case Takeru has ace king or something, he might slowplay. Or even if Takeru has a bluff, you keep that alive. I think both these players think they have this one hundred percent stone lock on the hand."

Junior, eyes shielded by the giant ski goggles, stared over at Takeru.

"Yup, he's giving him the treatment, acting like this is a tough decision for him. And, you know what, the board doesn't pair today. It just doesn't, not today. If Junior Ware has the stones to play four deuce with a short stack, if he has the gumption to snap-call the flop with four-high and a gutshot, then he DESERVES it! He DESERVES the seven of hearts on the river, GIVE IT TO HIM! IT'S HIS DAY!"

"Yeah, it's really not feeling like a board pair on the end here, it just feels like it's his day, and...here comes Junior."

Ware tossed out five blue chips and three yellow ones.

"Yeah, Junior just calls, and...I mean, if the river ends up being a four, or a deuce, or maybe a third club, this could end up being kind of bad for him, he could miss out on value."

The dealer rivered up the king of spades.

"I actually don't think I agree, I think Takeru would bet any river card here, even a club, these guys don't really have enough chips left to do anything but get it in now. I think Takeru's probably just going to rip here. I mean, queen jack just made the nut straight, but even still, Takeru can't do anything but go all-in here. Just so unlikely that Junior has four deuce or queen jack given the action."

Takeru blinked down hard a few times, looking over at Junior's chipstacks.

"And how is the universe not going to conspire to work out for Junior Ware? This is just his day, if he's going to take four deuce and crack aces, what else can you say other than the universe is just going to make sure this works out for him?"

"I'm all-in," Takeru said. Immediately, Junior shoved the rest of his chips in towards the middle.

"Oh boy, here it comes!"

Takeru turned over his pair of aces, watching as Junior flipped his cards up. He took the briefest of moments to match his cards with the board, then winced, his right hand reflexively shooting up a foot into the air in disbelief.

"OH! God..." Takeru snapped out, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

"There it is, the 'Oh God'! This is a test for the kid's control and willpower!"

Takeru stared back down at the cards for a second, then glanced to his left and right, a look of strained incredulity on his face. "What the hell is going on?" he muttered under his breath.

"Takeru, right now, he feels like...like, if this was a poker table out behind an old skate rink in Leavensworth, he would be SURE he was getting cheated! Holy COW!"

Takeru rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair.

OOO

The dealer flopped out the queen of hearts, seven of hearts, and five of spades.

"Yeah, it's all getting in, there's the action flop."

Takeru tilted his head towards Dan White, carefully considering his options.

"If Takeru checks, Dan is betting, so either way, this is getting in. Takeru only has like eighty thousand back, he just has to hope he gets there."

"I'm all-in," Takeru announced, taking his last fistful of yellow chips and sliding them forward.

"Call," Dan replied immediately. Takeru turned over king ten of hearts, while Dan revealed the ace of diamonds and queen of spades.

"So, Takeru's got the king high flush draw, backdoor straight draw, and one overcard...Dan's got top pair top kicker. Almost a coinflip, Dan's a tiny favorite. Takeru can't ask for anything better given he doesn't have many chips left."

"Can't believe you didn't just jam that," Takeru said, standing up and putting his hands in the pockets of his suit jacket.

"Yeah, I mean...I probably should have. I got greedy," Dan admitted. "Might work out."

The dealer put down the jack of clubs.

"Just don't make two pair," Takeru said. "Making two pair would suck, wouldn't it?" He gave a small grin.

"Takeru needs a...a nine or ace for a straight now, and after the crap he's has to deal with in this heat, it feels like he deserves it. Nothing's gone his way, feels like he just deserves to get there."

"He did well to not be the first player out, but there's not a huge difference between getting the bagel and getting one point, is there?"

"Well, right now, it feels like there's no difference, but by the end of the Premier League, one extra point could make a big difference, so it's hard to know yet. Yeah, right now, one point feels like a failed heat, and—"

The dealer put down the eight of clubs.

"Nope, that's a brick, and that'll do it for him."

"Good playing," Takeru said, leaning over the table to shake Dan White's hand. "Have fun, everyone."

"And after a very strong start to his Premier League, this spells trouble for Ishida. He comes away with one point, so he's certainly not out of it yet, but he needs to make a big spash in his last two heats."

Takeru made his way towards the exit tunnel.

"Yeah, that aces against four deuce hand really screwed his day up, if he wins that hand he's the big stack. He's gonna go somewhere after this and find a notepad and just scribble 'four deuce' on it a few hundred times tonight."

OOO

~Takeru~

"Dude, I *never* complain about bad beats," Takeru said. "Well, not after the fact, you know me," he insisted. "Come on, that's pretty bad. Six figure tournament, flop a set of aces, get slapped on the turn by four deuce? Can you believe that?"

"Yeah, it's...it's something," Ken said dismissively. "It's almost as if there's...a level of variance to poker, or something. Like, part of the game is luck."

"Oh my God, four deuce," Takeru moaned, nevertheless grinning. "He snapped me on the flop, too. He didn't even think about it. Four outs, one hundred and twenty-five K buyin, have to do well to have any chance of making the final table, sure, I'll snap-call."

"Okay, okay," Ken said. "It's bad, I'm right there with you, that's...a gross one." He rolled his eyes. "Just...just be happy your Premier League isn't dead yet." He turned his body around, looking behind him. "Come on, where is that idiot?"

"Hey, I'm the guy who gets to call him an idiot," Takeru insisted. "I've seen his idiocy firsthand, that's my job."

"Right," Ken muttered. "But once he gets here, you probably shouldn't call him an idiot."

Takeru rolled his eyes. "It's already annoying me, having to do this."

"He's one guy," Hikari interjected, sipping from a glass of water between sentences. "What does it matter? You've got hundreds of employees at The Mecca, so maybe one of them isn't perfect. Does it really matter?"

"And you should consider the outside factors," Ken added. "The Ward family is a pretty big deal in the world, they've got some pull practically everywhere, consider who you might have annoyed by embarrassing this guy like you did. And then consider how much it might be worth to undo some of that. Keeping this guy employed might just give you a relationship with a pretty powerful family, that alone is probably worth it. You should be happy that the potential solution is this easy. This is nothing."

Takeru grimaced. "Buddy, you have to understand, this business, running a major casino, I don't even know the full picture of it, and I can tell you just from what I've done there, everything matters. We've got thousands of players and hundreds of dealers in The Mecca, and they're all trying to get every little bit that they can." His eyes widened a bit. "They're all trying to rob us blind, if they sense even the slightest opportunity to get an advantage over the house they're going to take it, and they have to know that we're watching all the details, all the time." He shook his head. "They need to know that there is not one single thing that we won't catch."

"Stick him somewhere where he's not gonna matter," Ken said. "He's a complete screwup, he can't be picky. The family will be grateful for anything that keeps him busy."

"Every job matters," Takeru insisted. "That's the point." He rolled his eyes. "See, he can't even show up on time for his own job interview."

"That's a flavorful way of describing this meeting," Ken muttered.

"Alright, are you ready to apologize?"

Takeru turned around, looking back towards the large main area of the bar, a simple, quaint place, moderately full of people. Standing right by the table he, Ken, and Hikari, was a familiar tall man, wearing a black tanktop and khaki shorts.

"Excuse me?" Takeru asked, raising an eyebrow at the man.

"That's what this is about, right?" Burt Ward said, looking back and forth between the three young adults. "Look, I'm easy like sunday morning, if I hear an apology, I'll take my job back, that's no problem. But it's up to you." He gestured towards Takeru. "Sad that it's taken a few months, but I'll even let that go."

"Burt," Takeru said, voice tense and slightly neurotic. "Just sit down."

Slowly, with a small scowl towards Takeru, Burt pulled up a wooden chair and took a seat.

Takeru turned to look at the taller, significantly less well-dressed man. "First of all, since you seem to have some sort of doubts about this, let me be very clear on this." He pointed over at Burt. "You screwed up, and it cost The Mecca fifteen thousand dollars. That's not up for debate, that's a fact. You made a fifteen thousand dollar error, and you might sit there and say that fifteen thousand dollars isn't that big a deal, and I promise you it is."

Ken cleared his throat. "Okay, let's...let's move onto something more constructive."

"You know, if you just called me here to insult me more, I can just leave now," Burt said in a slightly whiny tone. "Seriously, I have better things I can be doing. You guys are making millions of dollars, and you get your...drawers in a bunch about fifteen grand."

Takeru blinked rapidly a few times, looking up towards the ceiling. "Okay, you know...here's the thing. Burt. You messed up that job already, I'm not gonna give you that job back. You already had a chance there, didn't work out." He made a raspberry noise with his tongue. "Forget it, I'm not gonna debate the value of fifteen thousand dollars. Bottom line, what happened happened, you can't have that job. But maybe we can find a compromise." He looked back over at Burt. "What are you doing out here in San Marco?"

Burt opened his mouth, only to be immediately halted by Takeru cutting him off.

"And please, don't make something up, I really don't care what you say that much, no point in trying to impress me."

Burt shrugged after a moment. "Well, my dad just...he told me to come out here and just hang out." He scratched the side of his face. "He sends me money every week. He was, uh...kinda irritated when he found out that I got fired, I don't know. For some reason, he told me to come out here and just stay here."

"Okay, so, you got...banished, basically," Takeru said simply. "He's sick of you failing at everything, he didn't like that you got fired from a job that you only had because he asked my father to give it to you, and he just wanted you to...go far away and basically live in exile." He nodded. "That's what happened."

Burt, face going slightly red, glanced around the bar area. "I...I guess, maybe, I don't know! Maybe he just wanted me to have a vacation!"

"Your family is a powerful one," Takeru continued. "You have a lot of influence in the world. Lot of money, lot of friends, and a lot of accomplishments. Your family takes pride in practically every member of it being a...political official, or a business owner, or someone of importance."

Burt slapped at the surface of the table with his palm. "You say it like it's easy!" He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, everyone in my family...they all do...awesome shit." He shrugged. "Yeah, it's a lot to live up to, but dangit, some people just aren't cut out for it!" He looked around the room again, making a scoffing noise. "So I'm not gonna be a senator or...whatever, does that really mean they're just going to act like I don't exist?!" He pointed over at Takeru. "And if all you're gonna do is talk about how much you think I suck, then I'm gonna just go!"

"There might just be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow," Takeru said.

"Huh?" Burt's face wrinkled in confusion, looking over towards Ken.

"Just, just stay," Ken said. "Just let him finish."

"Your family would take you being a productive member of society," Takeru said. "Why do you think your father got you that job anyway? Wanted to give you a chance to at least be something."

"What, what do you want me to say?" Burt asked. "That I am a complete screwup? Will that make you happy? Why do you even care?"

"Burt, I can get you back in at The Mecca," Takeru offered. "You can come back home, have at least something to hang your hat on."

Burt blinked a few times, looking slightly dazed, looking down at the floor. "Why, why would you...you say all this crap about me, now you're saying you want me to work for you?! What is this?"

Takeru tapped his fingers on the table a few times. "I'm not exactly happy about it either. But the situation is what it is."

"What situation?" Burt asked. "What are you talking about?"

Takeru sighed. "It's your family, Burt. Your family's gonna bail you out yet again." He cleared his throat. "Your family's pretty old school, Burt. They really look out for one another. Seems like it's the most important thing to them. You've got a cousin, resides over in Brugal, works in a warehouse for the International Collection Agency, where they keep physical copies of documents. You don't need to know everything, but I need his co-operation for something I'm doing. He said he'd give it if I got you a position at The Mecca. Apparently, your father's not happy with having to send you to live here, and has been privately expressing the hope that something happens that can at least bring you back to respectability."

Burt blinked a few times. "I...look, I got a lot of cousins, I've met maybe a handful of them, I don't think any of them would give a damn about—"

"He even said he didn't know you very well!" Takeru interrupted. "He's met you a few times at a party, he said! And he turned down money for this! He turned down money, said it would mean more to him if I got you employed again!" Takeru shrugged. "I don't know if I should respect that kind of familial bond, or find the nepotism disgusting."

"Well...maybe I like it in San Marco!" Burt suggested. "Maybe I don't wanna go work for people who don't respect me, ever think of that?"

Takeru gave a small smirk. "I respected you enough to tell you the truth, didn't I?"

Ken gave a small grunt. "That's quite an...interesting way to spin your approach to this, Takeru."

"I respect you enough to literally invent a job title at The Mecca, a job title of no meaning and no use, just so you can work there." He nodded. "That's right, Burt, I've created a position at The Mecca that serves practically no purpose, just so you can have a job. As for you enjoying it here...San Marco might have it's charm, but you're not exactly in Panok with a platinum credit card, so I doubt you can be enjoying yourself too much."

Burt looked back over towards Ken, then back over to Takeru. "So...that's it? I just fly back over to The Mecca, suit up, and I'm just...what am I?"

"Chef coordinator," Takeru said, speaking as if the phrase was generating bile in his mouth. "Theoretically, you work in the kitchens and make sure the chefs are working in an efficient manner. Something they do on their own, so...you just make sure you look busy all the time, and that'll be good enough." Takeru leaned back. "It's the best you're gonna get. It's not exactly the chairman of a large company, but it's reasonable employment in a respected establishment. Enough to make your family at least not be embarrassed of you."

Burt grimaced, then finally nodded. "You know, I don't care for the...the way you treat people."

"Don't take it personally," Takeru said. "This is business. Your actions damaged the business. That's all."

"Well...alright." Burt nodded again. "I'll take it, I'll...wow." He blew a large breath out of his mouth. "You know, I haven't even talked to anybody in my family in like two months," he said. "I...I didn't think they gave a crap. Just wanted me to disappear."

"And by the way, if you manage to screw this up, there's no helping you," Takeru added. "I'm literally asking you to do nothing. If you can't do that right, I don't even know what to tell you. Now, you're gonna fly back tonight, report to The Mecca tomorrow, and you're gonna handle the paperwork. Then you're gonna call your cousin. His name is James, he's in Brugal, and he works for the ICA. Figure it out from that. Tell him that you're employed again through me."

Burt stood up. "A...alright," he said, nodding. "But I am going to expect a certain level of...professional conduct from you and your father! I'm not gonna deal with getting insulted all the time this time!"

Takeru gave a curt nod. "You mess this up, we'll skip the insults, I'll just fire you. Oh, and the details of why you're being re-hired are not to be discussed with anyone. And I do mean anyone. You wouldn't want to get your cousin in trouble after he's going through all this for you, I assume. Anyone asks, including my father, you just say that I had a talk with your father and we made a deal to bring you back."

"Yeah, I'll...I'll keep that quiet," he agreed, nodding.

"I only told you so you understand why you're being brought back in, I don't need you thinking that I've...realized I made a huge mistake or some garbage."

Burt looked like he wanted to say something, but settled instead for backing away from the table and eventually spinning around to march back towards the exit.

"You have a...very fascinating way of handling this," Ken said, sounding a little ragged. "I feel like I should have maybe coached you a little bit on the art of working with people before this meeting."

"Look, if I have to have him back in my life, so be it," Takeru said. "But you're not going to get me to be nice to him! He's a clown, I feel unclean having to hire him back, at the very least I need him to understand that he's only getting this opportunity because of his connections!"

"You told him an awful lot of things," Hikari added. "Maybe a few things that he doesn't need to know. If he's such a clown, maybe he shouldn't know everything about what we're doing."

"I didn't tell him enough to matter," Takeru insisted stubbornly. "And I want that guy to understand exactly why he's getting this job." He stood up. "Alright, let's get out of here."

OOO

Takeru fanned out the jack of clubs, ten of hearts, nine of hearts, and eight of clubs, peeking at each of the four cards for a few moments.

"Pot," he announced, tossing out two black chips from his stacks.

"Now this is poker," Sammy said, looking around the small circular table. "Look at this, we...we could be anyone right now. We could be middle-class teenagers playing for lunch money! No dealer, no fancy table of food, just a deck and a table."

"I am getting that general feel of...like, being down in a basement in a suburban home after classes," Ken agreed. "I mean, until you see that giant golden watch on your wrist." He pointed over at Sammy's hands. "That sort of dispels things."

Sammy shrugged. "Sure, look at those things hanging off of Daisy's ears," he added. "It's not a particularly devoted roleplay, but...it's got some charm to it is all."

Miyako tossed her cards into the middle of the table face down. "How many suburban basement poker tables are populated entirely by players with seven figures in live career earnings?"

"Oh, yeah, that!" Daisy said enthusiastically as she tossed two black chips forward as well. "Congratulations, that's a...that's a loaded event too, final tabling an event that big...wow."

"That's actually a good observation," Takeru said, looking around the table as Ken folded. "We're all in the seven figure club now, right?"

Akira cleared his throat loudly as he also tossed a couple chips in towards the center of the circular table. "I'm working on it, call me...in progress towards seven figures."

"Oh, right, s-sorry," Miyako murmured. Daisy burned a card, leaning forward towards the middle of the table, and then zipped out the ten of clubs, ace of spades, and nine of diamonds.

"To the raiser," Akira said, pointing over towards Takeru to his right.

"Hey, why doesn't, uh...Hikari deal, she can deal, can't she?" Sammy suggested as Takeru slowly gathered together chips.

"I'll pass," Hikari said, seated behind Takeru. "I'll misdeal every third hand, everyone'll hate it."

"Good to see you three again, by the way," Takeru said, looking around the table as he tossed in a red chip and a black chip. "Six thousand."

"Oh, I wasn't going to have my greatest Holdem performance ever without getting to talk about it with the people who I honed my game with all these years," Miyako answered. "I, I feel so good right now, I...I mean, I'm feeling like I might take on a couple super high rollers. Why not, right?"

"You can sure as hell afford it," Daisy said. "I'm gonna raise the pot," she added, grabbing a light brown rectangular placard from next to her chips and putting in past her cards.

Akira quickly folded his hand. "Well, that makes it easy for me to get out of the way here."

"Yeah, what's a hundred thousand?" Sammy said, looking over at Miyako. "Your brother had to spend like fifty times that to settle out of court with that skiiing resort."

"Don't remind me," Miyako said sternly. "Can't believe him, he...he's honestly a very smart guy most of the time too, I promise."

"Most of the time," Takeru repeated, leaning forward on the table, putting his elbows up on the edge of it. "Sounds about right. How much do you have left, sweetie?"

Daisy looked down at her chips. "Like one hundred and fifty."

"What's the...eighteen thousand two hundred to me, right?" Takeru asked, forehead wrinkling in thought.

"I've, uh, I've got my second Premier League heat tomorrow," Sammy added. "This is kind of a weird city to host the Premier League, don't you think?"

"Don't talk about the Premier League around Takeru right now," Ken said. "He's asshurt about his heat yesterday, won't stop talking about it, you're gonna get him started again."

"I'm not asshurt," Takeru mumbled. "But that was some pretty serious bullshit, what happened out there yesterday." He rolled his eyes.

"I heard about that!" Sammy said, giving all-too sincere of a grin. "Four deuce? It's definitely rough."

"Okay, I raise pot," Takeru said, taking three brown rectangular placards and putting them out.

"I think talking about that hand is getting him steamed up," Miyako joked. "The timing of that couldn't have been a coincidence."

"Does anyone else feel like this whole hand is an exercise in pointlessness?" Akira said, pointing back and forth between Daisy and Takeru. "They're dating, so...what does it matter? What's his is hers, what's hers is his, right?"

Daisy gave a loud snort. "Yeah, that's...no, that's not how it works, buddy. Believe me. We're not married, you know."

"Although, if I do win this...I might end up spending some of that pot on an apology gift," Takeru admitted. "And, I'm not steamed up," he said, looking over at Miyako. "That was some bullshit, but...I'm over it. Really."

"Alright, I'm all-in," Daisy said, waving her hand forward.

"Call." Takeru stood up, turning his cards over.

"Holy shit, look at this size of this pot," Sammy said as Daisy revealed her holdings. Nine of spades, nine of clubs, five of hearts, four of hearts.

"Wow, what a flop," Ken muttered. "It's right around fifty-fifty, isn't it?"

"Something like that," Daisy agreed. "How many times?"

Takeru glanced around the room, then shrugged. "Well, how about...three times?"

"Three, three's good," she agreed. "Guarantees a winner, makes sure nobody goes broke."

"Hey, don't be so sure," Miyako said warningly. "I've seen crazy stuff happen on multiple runouts before."

Daisy burned and turned over the seven of hearts.

"Oh, there it is!" Ken said, clapping reflexively in excitement. "Straight to the jack!"

"Oof, so sick," Daisy grunted, wincing. "What do I...what do I need? Ace or seven."

She set a card to the side and put out the four of clubs.

"Okay, first third of the pot to the Prince!" Ken announced.

"Don't. Call me that," Takeru said sternly. "I mean it."

"But it fits so well!" Ken said, a hint of teasing in his voice. "Like, it's perfect."

Daisy put out the next runout, turning over the king of diamonds.

"Uh, scary one," Daisy muttered. "Wish that first river was a jack, take away some of your outs."

"I think you're gonna win this one, Daisy," Miyako said. "I got a good feeling about this one for you."

She burned, then turned over the three of hearts.

"There we go, one to each," Ken said, looking down at the board. "Here comes the tiebreaker."

"We should just take a moment to...appreciate the fact that we're sitting around a table in a hotel room, with a four hundred thousand dollar pot being gambled on, and it's not even that big of a deal to us," Sammy suggested. "I mean, I knew we all maybe felt like something like this could happen one day, but...that's pretty sweet."

"Not a big deal?!" Daisy repeated. "Hey, buddy, you don't have a dollar in this pot, maybe it's not a big deal to you." She held her arm out towards Sammy. "Go on, feel my heartrate, tell me it doesn't feel like a big deal to me!"

"Alright, last run, let's do it," Takeru said. Daisy obliged, burning and turning up the two of clubs.

"Always gotta be more outs," Daisy said. "Can't ever just be minimal drama, always gotta be more outs."

"Queen, jack, seven, or club," Takeru said quietly. "I like the feeling I'm getting from this one."

Daisy burned, then rivered the five of clubs. She melodramatically staggered backwards away from the table, falling backwards, letting Takeru catch her on the way down as she gave a strangled groan.

"So sick!" she muttered as Takeru lifted her back to her feet, shooting a wry glance over her shoulder towards him. "You're such a luckbox, you know that?"

Takeru gave a little chuckle. "I'm confident that you'll bounce back from this," he said, patting her on the shoulder. "Okay, that's reducing the sting from yesterday a bit."

"Ah ha!" Ken said, pointing emphatically at Takeru. "You're NOT over it!"

Takeru rolled his eyes as he took his seat again. "I'm over it, but it's still some serious bullcrap." He cleared his throat as the chips in the middle of the table were divided up by Daisy. "Anyway...Sammy, good luck in your heat tomorrow, I saw you're playing Karns and Cunningham. Tough table."

"They're all tough tables," Sammy replied. "I think I've got a chance at this league if I can just be consistently in the top four in every heat, I'm just trying to be steady." Suddenly, his facial expression snapped a bit. "Oh, oh, I wanted to ask you guys, uh...how's the side project going?"

Takeru raised an eyebrow over at Sammy. "Uh...side project?"

"Oh, Ken...a while ago I asked him why you and him we're travelling everywhere together the last couple months, and he said...something about you and him doing a side project together. Said he couldn't talk about it, if you can't either that's...that's fine. But are things alright?"

Takeru blinked a few times, rubbing his mouth with his left hand. "Oh, well...I don't want to talk about it too much, but...it's actually going better than I expected, honestly. Trust me, you...you don't want to get involved in this, it's...not anything good."

"I mean, if you needed my self, I am here," Sammy said, speaking rapidly in a slightly accented voice. "I understand that you and Ken have this really tight bond, you trust him completely, I get that, but...I can stand with my friends too."

"It's not that, he...he's something who can really help me with the problem I'm having," Takeru said. "Nothing to do with friendship levels or anything, it's just...I need him specifically."

"You're not getting him in trouble, are you?" Miyako asked.

"D-don't worry about anything," Ken insisted quickly. "He just needs my brain, that's all, no real danger."

Takeru bit his lip for a moment. "And, hopefully, it's almost over anyway, so...whatever."

Miyako nodded. "Alright, well...Ken won't tell me anything, I don't really like that."

"It's...okay, long story short, my dad...he's not in trouble now but he could be in the future," Takeru said quickly. "I'll leave it at that. We're trying to...handle some things to help him out, be proactive."

"Oh my God!" Miyako lamented, immediately lifting her hand up and covering the front of her face with it. "You're messing around with the mob!"

Takeru, immediately, turned his head towards Ken, scowling quite deeply and glaring daggers at him.

"Hey, I didn't tell her anything, I swear to God!" Ken said immediately, holding his palms out defensively towards Takeru.

"Yeah, you didn't!" Miyako snapped. "That's not cool!"

"W...what?" Takeru shook his head a couple times. "Then—"

"Yeah, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that your father had to get creative to fund the creation of The Mecca, Takeru!" Miyako said, giving him an annoyed look as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We all know it!"

Takeru blinked a few times, expression quickly softening. "Wait...really?"

"I...sort of thought it was possible," Sammy interjected, raising his hand up lamely. "It made sense."

"That's one hell of a guess," Ken said to Miyako. "You snapped to it immediately, too, that was pretty spectacular."

"Yeah, and it's very uncool to not at least tell me that!" Miyako continued. "Come on, that's some pretty serious stuff, potentially dangerous stuff!" She thought for a moment. "Besides, don't you think that maybe...maybe I could have helped too?!" She pointed at Takeru. "He's my friend too, I...if he wants to do something involving the biggest group of organized criminals in the world, he should at least have more of his friends helping him!"

"It's not nearly as bad as it sounds," Takeru insisted. "It's actually ended up being a very simple process, it's...practically over. No blood, no violence, nothing, it's...barely worth mentioning. We're not trying to overthrow mob bosses, we're just trying to...get my dad out of a bad deal."

Miyako pursed her lips. "I...I have a really hard time believing that things are as simple as you say."

"Okay, there...there was some risk, sure!" Takeru admitted, crossing his arms over his chest. "But...you know, I love my father! He loves his family, he...he wanted the best for us, so he worked his tail off to get to a place where he could give us the best. And maybe he...took a bit of a bad route to get there, but damnit, he got there, and he's done nothing but great things since he got there." He shrugged. "Maybe it's just me being selfish, because he's my dad, but...I don't wanna see him...end up in prison because of something he did over a decade ago. He did what he did in large part because of me, so...if I have a chance to help him out here, I feel like I should. Maybe it's not smart, but...I have to do it."

Miyako grimaced. "Well...I get that," she admitted.

"Ken chose to help me out, and I...I wanted to keep this thing as small as I could," Takeru continued. "I'm trying to get in, fix things, and get out, and then forget about it. Like it didn't happen. I don't wanna bring everyone in. It's getting close to the end, so...you know, sorry, but it's almost over anyway."

"Just be careful," Miyako said. "No offense, but...I don't think we're the people who need to be crossing the mob if we can avoid it. I...I respect your love for your father, I get that you feel like you gotta do this, but...just be careful."

"I don't think we have much to worry about," Takeru replied. "All I'm thinking about right now is my next stop in the poker circuit." 


	40. Bottom Of Your Range

Chapter 40: Bottom Of Your Range

"I'd like to apologize in advance to everyone," Daniel Karns said, looking around the table. "I invited the kid here tonight, uh, things usually don't go well for me when I'm sitting at a table with him, so...if he spends the night knocking all of us around, I guess it's on me."

"I have a feeling he would have found his way here with or without an invitation," Antonio Arvin suggested as Takeru pulled himself a bit closer to the edge of the table.

"Didn't you knock the kid out of the main event with four tables left?" Don Brown asked, pulling up a seat as well. "Your perspective on your history with him might be a little slanted."

"Still doesn't make up for One Drop," Daniel said. "There was an eight-figure payjump between first and second, and I got beat by a world series rookie! I'm supposed to be the greatest tournament player in the world!"

"Six Figure Stacks. The most popular televised high stakes cash game in the world. We've got eight long-time participants, and one newcomer who's taken the poker world by storm."

"And he's sitting to my left, too," Daniel said to himself, looking over at Takeru. "Alright. I've got like ten million dollars to make up on you, at least...how much did you bring?" He peered down at the stacks of chips and bundles of cash in front of Takeru.

Takeru gave a couple of little laughs. "Uh, six hundred thousand."

"You hear that, Daniel? If you bust him, you'll be six percent of the way there. Gotta start somewhere!"

The dealer slid the white circular button over to Daniel, then began to deal out cards, beginning with Takeru and going around the table.

"This is Takeru's first ever Six Figure Stacks appearance, and he's coming out swinging with over half a million. He's also got his girlfriend, Daisy Scott, and friend Ken Ichijouji in the back watching and cheering him on."

"I imagine those two will make an appearance at the table here at Six Figure Stacks sooner rather than later. Both talented players. But the spotlight has to be on the twenty-year-old prodigy in seat seven."

"I'd just like to point out real quick that it was Takeru who caused me to crash and burn at One Drop," Antonio said, folding his cards over to the dealer. "I went from chip leader to bubbling in less than half a day. So, Daniel, before you go thinking you have it bad, think about how it feels to bubble a million dollar buyin tournament."

"You won the One Drop last year, how bad can it be?!" Daniel replied. "You probably bought in tonight with money that you still have from One Drop last year!"

"My point is, Takeru was the one who sunk me by bluffing me off a chop. After that, it was a total disaster, so I can feel your pain. But MY pain is like, WAY worse."

"You can't have a conversation between high-stakes poker players without them getting into an argument over who got unluckier. Takeru eliminated Daniel from three world series events this year. He bounced him one hand after joining his table in a Holdem tournament, got him felted deep into a Stud tournament, and of course beat him Heads Up for in One Drop. Takeru won all three of those events. Daniel did get him back by felting him in the main event, and went on to finish seventh, but clearly he feels like they're not even yet."

"Okay, if it's gonna fold around to me...I'm gonna kick up the sleeper straddle!" Daniel announced, pushing in a black chip along with two green ones. "Come on, kid, punish me!"

"And Daniel's gonna sleeper straddle the first hand on the night! It folded around to him on the button, and he's looking to mix it up with Takeru right from the start!"

Takeru looked over at the chips Daniel had slid out, eyes slightly glazed over.

"You're, uh...you're confused by all this, huh?" Daniel said.

"No, just thinking," he replied, bending down a bit to check his cards.

"Daniel has made a minimum raise from the button to twelve hundred dollars without looking at his cards. This effectively acts as a straddle, since action folded to him, and he now gets the benefit of acting last preflop."

Takeru looked down at the nine of diamonds and five of spades.

"Nine five offsuit for Takeru. Pretty ugly cards to look down at on your first hand on Six Figure Stacks."

Takeru flicked out a black chips to join his small blind, the dealer tossing him a green one back.

"But he will make the call, he can not be intimidated by a sleeper straddle."

Don Brown looked down at the king of clubs and six of hearts.

"Also not a great hand, but Don is getting a discount and nobody has shown any strength yet."

"Six hundred to me?" Don asked, tossing out six green chips.

"And now, Daniel gets to act before the flop, he's gonna actually look at his cards now."

Daniel looked down at the seven of clubs and four of clubs.

"Oh, well I'm gonna raise, for sure." Daniel pointed down at his cards. "Oh, yeah, this hand, are you kidding me? Yeah, I'm totally gonna raise. There's four thousand out there, I'm just gonna...put another thirty-two hundred bucks in." He slid in a handful of chips.

"Daniel taking a shot at the pot preflop with seven four suited. Takeru and Don didn't showcase any particular strength by flatting, this could take the pot right here."

"Alright!" Daniel said, pumping his fist. "It worked! Plan came together." He pointed at the dealer. "Got position, big pot, they're already sucked in for twelve hundred, they can't fold. Beautiful!"

"Raise pot," Takeru said. "How much is it?"

"Oh, yeah, do that! Let's get it on!" Daniel said as Takeru put out a stack of black chips.

"Raise pot, that'll be...thirteen thousand, six hundred and fifty," the dealer answered. Takeru tossed a few green chips and a white chip on top of the tower of black ones.

"Takeru isn't buying it, he re-raises. These two guys might be having a bit of a water closet contest."

Don looked back down at his cards before sliding them over towards the dealer.

"Don has seen enough, he's out."

"Alright, so...what do I owe? Ten thousand four-fifty?" Daniel flipped in a yellow chip.

"That's what they tell me," Takeru answered as Daniel chased the yellow chip with a few green ones and a brown one.

"Daniel does like to play hands like seven four suited, but this is quite a bit of money to invest before the flop when Takeru is representing a huge hand. We've got thirty-one thousand dollars in the middle, and Takeru leads with nine high."

"Alright, let's go!" Daniel said. "I think one of us is gonna go all-in this hand. Like, on the turn or something. First hand of the night, just feels like it's gonna get weird."

The dealer flopped out three cards as Takeru remained quiet. Queen of diamonds, four of hearts, nine of hearts.

"Daniel's flopped bottom pair, Takeru's got second pair, so both get a piece. But they're both vulnerable, and the pot is already pretty big."

Takeru thought for a few moments below lowering his arm down to the table and tapping the felt.

"No continuation bet from Takeru, he checks his pair of nines."

"Takeru might want to get to cheap showdown with this pair. He likes his hand, but doesn't want to go to war when Daniel could have a big pair or a strong queen pretty reasonably given his line."

Daniel looked over at Takeru for a few moments. "Alright." He tapped the felt as well.

"Pot control from both players."

The dealer turned over the king of spades.

"No change for either player. Could be a scare card for both, though."

Takeru again checked, rapping the table with his knuckles.

"That's two checks from Takeru, Daniel may now decide to take a stab with his small pair. Betting now will occasionally get some slightly better hands to fold, and even if he has the best hand right now, a large majority of river cards will be bad for him."

Daniel slid out a yellow chip, perched atop six black chips.

"About half the pot from Daniel, sixteen thousand. Looks like a value bet, and it's not an easy call for Takeru. Daniel definitely has kings and queens in his range."

Takeru stared over at Daniel's stack for several seconds, then looked back down at his own.

"He hasn't folded yet. There are several draws out there, easy to put Daniel on one of them."

Takeru fired out two glittering silver chips.

"Looks like that's what Takeru is thinking, he raises to fifty thousand!"

"Huh," Daniel said. "Maybe I should have checked. That might have been better for me. Then you couldn't have raised me."

"Kind of an interesting play from Takeru to raise here with such a marginal hand. He might be turning his hand into a bluff, or he might be protecting against the draws, but as it turns out, he has way the best hand and Daniel doesn't have a re-draw."

"Well, this might have been a bad idea," Daniel said, prying up the edges on his four and seven. "I don't think I have the best hand."

"Fair assessment from the man holding a pair of fours."

Daniel fired his cards over towards the muck. "Alright, I'm gonna check out of this one."

"And Takeru's first ever hand on Six Figure Stacks sees him take in a pot of nearly six figures!"

Takeru grabbed one of his cards and flipped it face up, showing the table the five.

"Mean just to show the five."

Daniel scratched the back of his head as the chips got pushed over to Takeru. "Huh. A five. That has to have me beat." He shrugged. "I had a four, so...a five had to have me, right?"

"A five," Antonio muttered, rubbing his chin as the dealer began to push out a new hand to each player. "I dunno, maybe not."

"Yeah, maybe...what'd you have?" Daniel asked.

"Seeing that five is really bugging Daniel."

"What'd you have?" Takeru asked.

"I had seven four of clubs," Daniel answered. "So I had a four."

"Yeah, I had you," Takeru said. "I had nine five."

"So you had nothing...wait, was there a nine out there?" Daniel asked. "Yeah, there was, okay. You had me crushed."

Takeru tossed a dark red chip over to the dealer, who took it. "I thought I was good, but almost every river card was bad, so I didn't want to just call and deal with that."

"Wait, you guys had four seven and nine five?" Antonio said, grinning. "Oh, I LOVE this show, I wish we had this every day." He turned to his left, looking over at Peter Manning. "They built a hundred thousand dollar pot with seven four and nine five, this is beautiful! I love these guys! Twenty-year-old kid, goes to war with nine five, that's a sick kid right there!"

OOO

"You play golf, right?" Daniel asked, looking over at Takeru. "You should get out there with us, we play five grand a hole."

"I'm not good," Takeru said, tossing out two green chips. "I play, but...I'm not good, so I'd probably just hold everyone up."

"We're not exactly professionals either," Jerry Greenberg countered, taking a look down at the ace of clubs and ace of hearts. "Believe me, I've seen everyone here embarrass themselves on multiple occasions out there, you'll fit right in."

"Nah, that...that seems like a pathway to me losing a lot of money, five grand a hole," Takeru said. "I'll work on my game this winter, maybe."

"Poker and golf. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. Can't go half an hour at a high stakes cash game table without a conversation about golf breaking out. Meanwhile, Jerry's got the rockets from under the gun."

Jerry tossed out two black chips and five green ones. "If you spend the winter working on your game, you'll probably be ready to thrash everyone here by spring."

"We've shuffled the seating around, we've raised the stakes, and Evan Kelly has left for the night after getting felted. Eight players, blinds are four hundred and eight hundred with a two hundred ante."

Takeru looked down at the queen of clubs and ten of clubs, tossing out the twenty-five hundred in chips as well.

"Takeru's in."

Antonio tossed in the chips as well, holding the three of diamonds and three of clubs.

"Arvin's in with pocket threes, Joshua Castle calls with jack nine offsuit, Scott Trout calls with the seven six offsuit...wow, look at this!"

Daniel called as well with king four of diamonds, Peter Manning tossed in a few chips with four deuce offsuit, and Don Brown called with ace nine offsuit.

"Bing bang, we've got the whole gang! All seven players have called Jerry's raise, we've got nearly twenty-two grand in the middle already! Here we go!"

"Just one of those things where each call gives the remaining players a better price to call themselves, it's almost like an avalanche. And Jerry can't be happy with seven other players when he's got aces."

"Family pot!" Joshua said.

"Gotta feel bad for the guy who opened this pot and got seven callers," Jerry said with a small grin.

The dealer put out the flop. Two of clubs, ten of diamonds, two of spades.

"A ten and two deuces looks like a safe flop for aces, but Jerry's been outflopped by Peter Manning."

Peter and Don checked, allowing Jerry to fire out one yellow chip into the pot.

"Well, Jerry wants to find out if his aces have held up against seven callers. He bets ten thousand, pretty small bet relative to the pot size."

Takeru shuffled a stack of black chips around, staring down at the board.

"Well, Takeru's flopped a pair of tens with a good kicker, so it's tempting to call. But he's got seven players to act behind him, and he's got to be aware that Jerry probably has an overpair. And of course, someone could have a deuce, like Peter Manning does. So, it might be a smart time to lay his hand down, despite flopping pretty well."

Takeru got out a silver chip, then placed a yellow chip, two black chips, and three green chips atop it. He considered this multi-colored tower for a moment, then dropped it out past the yellow line.

"He's not going to lay it down, and he's not going to call. He's gonna raise to thirty-seven thousand three hundred! Wow."

Quickly, the players acting behind Takeru folded, sliding their cards over to the dealer.

"I have no idea what he's doing here. With eight players in this pot, he must realize that a pair of tens is almost certainly not the best hand. His raise might fold out a few slightly better hands, like king ten or ace ten, but otherwise, he's just going to fold out all the worse hands and get action from all the better ones."

Action got around to Peter, who looked over at Takeru intently.

"I could have maybe understood calling, but I really don't understand raising that much money. Now we've got Peter, with the best hand. Although he looks a little concerned about it."

Peter thought for a few moments, and then finally put out a tower of chips matching Takeru's.

"He is gonna call. Don Brown folds, and now, it's back to Jerry."

"Now, Jerry's got aces. But he's got to think this hand through. Peter Manning is not an especially loose or crazy player, and there are no draws on that flop. Peter would not be calling nearly forty thousand dollars there with just a ten. For Peter to call a bet AND a raise, he has to have trip deuces or better. So, even though his hand looks pretty good on that board, he probably needs to get out of the way here. One way or another, someone has him beat."

Jerry, however, flipped in three yellow chips.

"No, Jerry's gonna stick. I can understand thinking that Takeru is full of it, Takeru could be raising there with just about anything. But Peter has to have a big hand a hundred percent of the time when he flats there."

The dealer burned and turned up the seven of diamonds.

"That seven looks like a blank, and it is. Peter Manning still has the best hand with his trip deuces."

Peter checked quickly, allowing Jerry to do the same, putting the action over to Takeru.

"Takeru's got the worst hand, but it seems like he's the guy that everyone's most concerned about having a monster. And he hasn't checked yet."

Takeru put out four silver chips in front of him, then added four black ones and two green ones atop it.

"There's one hundred and thirty-three thousand dollars in this pot already, and Takeru's loading the cannon. He's got the weakest hand, but the biggest heart. And I questioned his raise on the flop, but I think that he actually knows exactly what he's doing here. He knows he's behind here, and he's turned his hand into a bluff. Seems like that was the plan the entire way."

Takeru put out the ten chips.

"One hundred and four thousand two hundred is the bet! And this pot is approaching a quarter million dollars."

Peter swallowed down hard, steepling his fingers in front of his face as he stared down Takeru.

"And this is getting tough on Manning. He's got trip deuces with no kicker, so he's basically got the worst hand he's ever supposed to have here. It's very transparent that Peter has a deuce or better, and Peter's aware of that. So Takeru firing a hundred grand despite that seems to signal that Takeru can beat a weak deuce. He's got the very bottom of his range, and Takeru is representing extreme strength."

Peter looked back down at his cards.

"Peter's got half a million dollars in front of him here. If he calls, he's probably going to have to put in most of it, if not all of it, on the river. Takeru called preflop from early position, so there shouldn't be many deuces in his hand, probably only ace deuce suited. But it's very possible that he's got pocket tens, and flopped a full house. Tough spot."

Peter slid his cards over towards the dealer.

"Wow! Peter Manning gives up the best hand!"

"Peter realized he had the bottom of his range with the weak deuce, and that he was only beating bluffs. And he decided he didn't want to risk that half million dollars, can hardly blame him!"

Jerry looked over to his left at Takeru, sizing him up.

"Now, Jerry's aware that Takeru does have quite an imagination. He displayed many different gears during his world series runs, including the ability to try some audacious bluffs. But a bluff is all he can beat, given the action. And Jerry only has about three hundred grand left in front of him, so he's definitely going to have his entire stack at risk if he chooses to stick around here."

"I'm so confused," Jerry muttered. Finally, he released his cards over towards the dealer.

"And Jerry folds the second best hand! Takeru bluffs them both!"

"Pretty sure you just threw away the best hand there, Jer," Antonio said. "Don't think he had it."

"No no no," Takeru said, sliding his cards over to the dealer as the dealer got him his chips. He pointed over towards Peter. "He had the best hand for sure."

"You think so?" Peter said, a thin smile on his face.

"Oh, yeah, easily," Takeru said, stacking the pot of chips. "You had, like, three deuce or something."

"He did not have a deuce," Don Brown said dismissively. "No way he folded a deuce."

"I'll bet ten thousand dollars he had a deuce," Takeru said.

"The man who just raked in a pot with nearly a quarter million dollars in it wants to make a ten thousand dollar side bet. We're gamblin' here on Six Figure Stacks."

"Yeah, Peter had the best hand, guaranteed," Takeru insisted. "I'm pretty sure I had the worst hand."

"And Takeru knew the whole time! Wow! That's one of the boldest bluffs in the history of Six Figure Stacks! And that's how you guarantee you'll get invited back to the show in the future."

"I can only think of a few other players in the history of poker who would have tried that play and gotten it to work. Beautiful play. And Takeru's good night continues."

OOO

~Takeru~

"Hey, did I really have the best hand?" Peter asked, putting his hands in his pockets as he strolled up towards Takeru. "On that eight-way hand earlier, with the...the ten deuce deuce flop?"

"Yeah," Takeru said, reaching down towards Hikari and lifting her up into a standing position from the spectator couch. "Look, I...I wasn't saying it trying to show you up or anything, I was just replying to Antonio."

"Did you just have total air?" Peter said, squinting, thinking the hand back in his head. "Like...there weren't any draws on the flop, that's why I folded."

"I had a ten," Takeru answered. "I mean, you'll see that hand on television later, so I'm not gonna lie. I had queen ten."

Peter flinched slightly. "W-wait, a ten? So you were...you turned top pair in a bluff?"

"Well, it obviously wasn't the best hand, have to bluff to win." He shrugged. "I'm blocking tens full, so that helps."

"Wow." He nodded. "That's an incredible play, I...I couldn't ever do that." He puffed his cheeks out. "Should have held on, I hated folding."

"You had to fold," Takeru insisted. "You had, what, three deuce?"

"Four deuce," Peter answered.

"Yeah, you...you had the bottom of your range, if you call I'm shoving the river, you can't...you can't call with the bottom of your range, it's crazy."

He gave an incredulous laugh. "I mean, you raising the flop and betting the turn, it looks so strong into so many people, how can I...how can I be good?" He reached his hand out towards Takeru, who took it. "Good playing with you, man, you've got some real game. Where you headed?"

"I'm going back to Panok. And hey, I haven't won the world series main event yet," Takeru pointed out. "That's you, you've got the most beautiful bracelet of them all, I'm not there yet."

"Ah, you...you've still done more than me," he said. "Are you doing the quarter million thingy?"

"Of course," Takeru answered. "Wouldn't miss that."

"Wow, just...good luck. I guess I'm paying for part of that entry fee." He walked away. "Good playing."

"Back to Panok?" Hikari asked.

"Yeah, why not, they love us down there," Daisy said, wrapping her right arm around Takeru's shoulders and giving him a quick hug before pulling away. "Maybe Koushiro will let us stay on his island this time. He's got those live-in massage therapists, I'll have one come up to my room and just go to work on me the entire night."

Takeru raised an eyebrow over at her. "Bed'll be kinda crowded."

Daisy gave a little snort. "Well, you can...you can go sleep somewhere else if it bugs you," she said with a laugh.

OOO

~Hikari~

"No, you don't have to yell," Hikari said into the black rectangular device, holding it in front of her face. "That's the point of it, you can just talk normally and I can hear you."

"Oh." Taichi's voice came in, crystal clear through the device. "You said you were, like, thousands of miles away, so I just kinda thought—"

"Yeah, it doesn't matter," Hikari said, standing up and slowly beginning to pace around the giant main room. "Technology is a heck of a thing, isn't it?"

"Man, we should have done this a long time ago," Taichi said. "It's just this easy, we should have tried this a long time ago. Hey, did you know I actually get days off here? I had no idea, someone came up to me yesterday and asked why I hadn't taken any time off yet."

"Yeah, it's almost like they value their workers or something," Hikari replied, looking up at the ceiling towering high over her head. "So, wanna know where I am right now?"

"Is it somewhere a lot nicer than the barracks? Maybe I don't wanna hear about it." He paused for a moment. "Oh, hell, I wanna hear how my baby sister is living the high life, go ahead."

"I'm a couple miles off the coast of the world's most luxurious, tropical city, on the private island of a self-made millionaire, in the living room of a small mansion. In a couple minutes, servants are going to bring in a giant platter of prime rib, and I'm going to enjoy a nice dinner with a group of wealthy, talented young adults. Maybe tonight, I'll get a massage. I might even try out riding a horse."

"No no no," Koushiro said, twisting his head around to look at her as she paced around behind the couch. "The horses aren't here, a tropical island isn't a great place for a horse. I just own them, they're not here."

Hikari nodded. "Okay, maybe no horses, but...I could go swimming. Well, it's not really swimming, but...I can be in the water."

Koushiro, meanwhile, held up a thin rectangular tablet, the surface of it projecting an image of the interior of a large horse stable, three impressively-sized brown horses meandering around.

"The horses look cool though," Hikari added. "Alright, food is just about to get in here, I'll let you go. Whenever you get some time, ask your manager to get you a call to Takeru. I'm pretty much always there with him."

"Well, enjoy being a rich girl," Taichi said teasingly. "Keep this up, and by the time you come back here, they'll have me moved to being your personal manservant."

"Can't wait to have someone to...to...refill my water glass," Hikari said. "Makes my life much easier." She tossed the electronic device over towards the couch, Takeru catching it.

"I actually have no idea how I got pulled into it, but now that I've done it, it's actually pretty good." He showed Takeru the screen. "I was playing heads up cash with this businessman guy...pulverized him, of course, but we were talking and he mentioned that he had just bought a new racehorse. So we started talking about how that works, how they have really good horses mate to produce strong ponies with a lot of potential, and then the ponies get auctioned off to rich people. You study them, try to evaluate their potential, then you can bid on them, you hire trainers to raise the horse, and then they work their way up in the races."

"So where are they?" Hikari asked, leaning up over the backrest of the couch, looking at the screen. One of the horses was being led into a small, walled-off section of the stables by a tall woman. "Where do you keep the horses?"

"The stables I bought are in Roba," Koushiro answered. "There are some good tracks there, some nice races happen there. If your pony gets raised well, they can go in some really big races. Some of the biggest ones, winning it is worth a couple million."

"There's a real charm to horse racing," Mimi said, leaning over to look at the screen. "There's something just...noble about it. My father turned me onto it, he liked it a lot. There's just a real feel to it."

Koushiro tapped the screen a couple times, pointing at the horse on the leftside of the camera shot. "This one right here, his father won over thirteen million dollars in professional races. He's got a big legacy to live up to."

"Forty grand," Mimi added. "As far as ponies go, it's pretty near the top, and it'll be about forty grand a year for the trainers." She nodded. "But if things work out, he'll be worth millions. And he's a beautiful horse too."

"Race horses get treated like horse royalty too," Koushiro said. "I, I don't think I could do it if they were, like...suffering constantly, but...I'm gonna spend tens of thousands of dollars on making sure these horses get the best of everything, it's horse paradise for them, I did my research."

"Just when I think your life can't get any more amazing," Takeru said. "You've got prize ponies now? That's so amazing."

About a half-dozen servants carted in a large wheeled tray, atop which were an assortment of silver covered dishes.

"Oh, here we go," Ken said, rubbing his palms together.

"Actually, more than a few big time professional poker players have gotten into the ponies, apparently," Koushiro replied. "Iverson, swear to God I thought that guy did nothing but play poker, he's actually got like a forty percent stake in a couple dozen different prize horses."

"Yeah, but...just, again, where you started, to where you are now," Takeru said, grinning. "It's still, it still blows my mind. I, I probably couldn't do that. I got here because I was coached by one of the best in the world, and I had a rich father. I mean, how did you even develop your Holdem game? To me, that's just...how can you figure the game out on that level without having expert coaching?"

"It's just game theory," Koushiro said, shrugging. "Once you figure out all the possible scenarios, you can start shaping a strategy."

"Oh, yeah, not hard at all," Daisy said lightly. "Even a caveman can do it."

"So anyway, Takeru, you'll remember that I so graciously allowed you to spend the night here." He pointed over at Takeru. "You'll remember that tomorrow when you're contemplating a check-raise from the blinds on a jack nine seven board, right?"

"Hey, you don't need people taking it easy on you," Takeru countered. "Ask me how I know."

"Hey, great job, guy," Koushiro said, turning to the men in suited beginning to divide the large amount of food only various plates. "I know the company was short notice, can't have been easy to get all this together so quick.

"Well, don't say anything nice until after you've tried it," one of the commented. "You might not feel that way in a couple minutes."

"Oh, you guys aren't capable of making something bad," Koushiro insisted, waving his hand dismissively. "Even if you tried, you couldn't make something bad, I don't want to hear that talk from you guys. You're too good for that."

"I like a man who knows how to treat the help well," Ken said, taking a large, tall glass of water from one of the men. "Not as common as you'd think."

"Oh, you'd treat these guys well too if you saw the work they did," Koushiro said. "All of them, they're...you name it, they can do it. I didn't have any of this growing up." He grimaced for a moment. "We had a saying back at Leavensworth. The people at the top look down, and they see the people at the bottom, and they don't notice the middle. Felt like that sometimes."

"If I might speak from experience, you were a lot closer to the top than the bottom." Hikari received her plate. "Trust me, I...the stuff I had to do, you don't even wanna hear."

"Yeah, sure, but...I always thought that it could just as easily have been me, y'know?" Koushiro mused out loud. "Like, I was in the middle, now I'm at the top, but...there's no rule saying that I couldn't have been at the bottom. It's all just kind of...random. I know that I have this un-natural level of intelligence, and if I had ended up being born there, I could never have found out. Nobody would have. It's just so easy for things like that to happen. I'll bet there are a lot of people with a ton of potential for great things there, and they never even have a chance to realize it."

"I'd say we have proof of that," Takeru said, reaching over to squeeze Hikari's shoulder.

"So, to me, I just really want to treat them like employees. I want them to...when they leave, I want them to feel like, this was a good time in my life. I was just a person in the world who did things, and received things in return. During this phase in my life, I was good with things. That's how I want them to feel."

"That's uh...that's a great way to look at things," Daisy said. "I like that."

"Alright, let's, uh, get to it," Koushiro said, pointing his fork down at his plate. "Today, we're friends...but tomorrow, it's all business, and we'll be sitting on the opposite sides of the felt."

OOO

~Takeru~

"I really don't think you should be thinking about this stuff at all right now," Ken said under his breath, glancing around shiftily.

"I just don't like when this thing isn't moving in the right direction for days at a time," Takeru whispered back. "I just wanted to make sure we're on schedule, put me at ease a bit before I go out there."

Several dozen people were gathered all around the light-green colored room, high-stakes players and their small entourages, sitting around on various chairs, hushed conversations being traded everywhere. The lone door in and out of the room, a large, tall portal, hung open. Quite suddenly, from outside this open door, a loud booming voice sounded off.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, over the recent months, Panok has played host to some of the biggest games in the world, cash and tournament. Now, tonight, we have the crown jewel of the series of events known as the Panok Millions! Eighty-nine players, each one of them risking the approxmimate value of an apartment right down the street at The Pinewood, all in the hopes of scoring a grand prize that will be a minimum of five point six MILLION! Welcome to the Panok Millions Two Hundred and Fifty K challenge!"

Takeru turned back to look at Ken. "We've got about a minute before they call me out, just...tell me what I wanna hear. I don't want this thing to get away from us, I want it over quickly."

"One of the biggest tournaments in the world, only the most successful and wealthiest players in the world dare to try their hand here! Each one of our players is on the hook for a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar bullet, and with unlimited rebuys on, expect to see several of them get in even deeper than that! Now, let's meet our special participants!"

"We're still waiting for word from Brugal, but...there's no reason why we shouldn't be getting good news very soon." Ken looked around the room quickly. "Now come on, focus, you're in for a quarter million!" He slapped Takeru on the shoulder. "There's nothing we can do right now, we've done everything we can."

"He made hundreds of millions of dollars as a venture capitalist, and when he's not loaning money to burgeoning startups, he enjoys taking money on the felt."

One of the seated men jumped to his feet and half-jogged over towards the open door.

"Please welcome Jason Ferris!"

"Alright, Ken's right, forget about that crap," Daisy said. "Remember, this one's all you. You cash, you don't have to share shit. You gotta keep building that legend."

"He's been frequenting high roller tournaments for twenty years, one of the best in the world at them, and when he decides to step down the stakes a little bit, he's only got a forearm-full of world series bracelets in his vault. Enter Barry Lewis!"

A man familiar to Takeru rose to his feet and headed out of the door as well.

"Alright, I'm headed out, thanks guys," Takeru said hurriedly. "I'm out next, this is a big one!"

"Five months ago, he had never played in a professional poker tournament in his life. Now, he's the biggest story in the world of poker, a budding superstar with four world series bracelets, tens of millions of dollars in cashes, and currently the number one ranked player in the world on the Global Poker Index."

Takeru, beginning to feel a rush of adrenaline, rushed out of the room, down a short hallway, out into a large room filled with lights and cameras, as well as nine full-sized poker tables with chairs surrounding them.

"Here comes Takeru Ishida!"

Takeru put his arm up high in the air, waving around to the dozens of cameras positioned all around the room, giving a smile as he did so. Quickly, he found his chair, on one of the tables on the right side of the room, seat number three.

As the introductions and announcements continued, Takeru looked over his pile of chips, identical to the stacks in front of every chair in the room. Ten stacks of twenty red chips each, thin swirling blue lines on the face of each making for some variety. Five stacks of green chips, identical swirling yellow lines on each of these. And just one stack of twelve lavender chips.

"You guys cost me a quarter million dollars," Takeru said under his breath. "Better be worth it." 


	41. Triple Barrel

Chapter 41: Triple Barrel

"Oh, here's a very happy surprise, we've got a visitor in the booth, looks like we're picking up a third commentator for at least awhile here. Daisy Scott has joined us, good afternoon, Daisy."

Dan Nyugen tossed his cards over to the dealer, allowing Takeru to take the action.

"Hey George."

"So, uh, we're here late in day one of the two-hundred and fifty thousand dollar Super High Roller tournament. Still have most of our players around, although a few of them have had to rebuy to stay in. Daisy's showed up to the booth to pass judgement on her boyfriend, who's got action on him right now in the hijack. Some of our viewers might remember Daisy, she finished third in the one hundred thousand event a few weeks ago, cashing for one point one million dollars. Not competing in today's event."

Takeru carefully stacked one lavender chip, one green chip, and two red chips, then put out this small tower.

"Yeah, it's just a little out of my comfort zone right now, I...I feel really good about my game right now, that third place finish a few weeks ago was huge for me, I don't want to take the chance of setting myself back by risking a quarter million in one tournament. Especially a tournament with rebuys."

"Takeru has made a minimum raise here, thirty-two thousand chips from the hijack, gets the cutoff to fold. Looks like we don't know his cards yet, looks like we're playing Guess The Cards. Daisy, what do you mean by that last part about the rebuys?"

"I just mean, most of the players in this tournament are prepared to rebuy if they bust, quite a few of them multiple times. Guys like Perry Iverson, Koushiro Izumi, Daniel Karns, to them, rebuying is pretty much a given. I think a lot of players here are happy to rebuy three times, maybe even more, they have giant bankrolls or wealthy backers, and that really changes things. You can be a lot more aggressive, you can take chances, you can gamble to try to build a big stack early and plan on rebuying if it doesn't work out, that sort of stuff."

Gale Ernst tossed out a lavender chip into the pot as well, chasing it with a couple reds and a green.

"Oh, lemme interrupt for one second, Daisy, Gale Ernst is calling the raise from the button, it looks like, and he's got pocket kings! Yeah, just a call from Gale, very interesting. Very trappy, maybe a little pot control. This is an interesting clash, Gale Ernst was the number one ranked player in the world on the Global Poker Index last month, and it was Takeru Ishida who knocked him off the top of the list, so these are two of the hottest players in the world."

The small blind folded.

"Yeah, very trappy, but...I think Takeru usually has a good hand when he min-raises from the hijack into players who are this high level. Don't know why you wouldn't raise to get value, he's almost definitely calling with anything he's opening with. Nobody believes button re-raises anyway."

"You would certainly know how Takeru thinks better than almost anyone."

Linus Jacobson, after considering the jack of clubs and eight of hearts, tossed out one lavender chip.

"And also, now he's priced in the big blind to call with a ton of differents hand, gonna be hard to range him. Not a huge deal in this instance because Linus has a pretty weak hand, but...playing kings three-way isn't great."

"Alright, three players to the flop, one hundred and twenty-thousand in the pot!"

The dealer flopped out the four of clubs, five of diamonds, and six of hearts.

"Four five six rainbow. Daisy, we've been commentating all day, so feel free to...take the reigns here, give us your thoughts. We still don't know Takeru's hand here."

Linus checked over to Takeru.

"So anyway, Daisy, you're not comfortable with rebuying in a tournament this big?"

"It's just, I feel it's a disadvantage to know that you're in for one bullet and that's it when most everyone else isn't. My bankroll right now is...a few million or so, I don't wanna risk a huge portion of that on one tournament when things are going well for me right now. And, heh, I...there's a thin line between being a professional poker player and having your wealthy parents fund your gambling addiction, so I don't want to just lean on them for buyin money. I just decided to hold off on this one, maybe next year."

Takeru looked up at the dealer as he put out two lavender chips. "Forty-eight."

"Continuation bet for Takeru, forty-eight thousand, forty percent of the pot. We know that Linus has a gutshot straight draw and two overs, and Gale has a big overpair."

"I still think TK...er, Takeru has something good here, although he might have missed the flop and be firing a continuation bet anyway. Something like ten nine suited, king jack, ace ten, he could try to take it down here. It's a good flop for an overpair, he can have all the overpairs and feel pretty good about that flop. He's gonna get himself in a lot of trouble if he has an overpair, unless of course it's aces. Like, having queens on this flop looks fantastic."

Gale, arms folded over each other, looked down at his remaining stack.

"Guaranteed Gale is going to at least call here, of course, with kings on a six high flop. Daisy, do you raise here?"

Gale continued to tank.

"Well, this flop kind of smashes Linus's range, so...I don't love raising, because if you raise and then Linus re-raises, you pretty much have to fold. When Linus just flats out of the big blind, he's the guy who can really have eight seven, which is the nuts...five six, six four, five four, he's the guy who can have those hands. So I kinda like just calling just to see what happens with Jacobson first, this board is a little too coordinated."

Finally, with the minute time limit close to running out, Gale tossed out one lavender chip.

"He does just call."

"And also, one reason why you just call before the flop is, just in case Takeru has a weak hand and is just trying to steal the pot, you keep his bluffs alive and let him keep firing away. If you raise now, the game is kind of up, there is...value to get by just calling in case Takeru is bluffing. And even if Takeru has a good hand, a lot of the time it's just gonna be something like ace queen and he's completely missed and now has to fold to a raise. It feels like Gale has decided to not play for stacks this hand, so I don't think you should just raise now."

"And also, if Takeru missed the flop with an ace high hand, he could turn it into a bluff and re-raise himself, and that puts Gale in a bad spot, right? That's part of it."

Linus slid his cards over towards the dealer.

"That definitely makes Gale feel better, Linus folding. I think he's pretty confident that he's got Takeru beat. Now that it's worked out this way, flatting preflop with kings looks genius. TK could be in a bit of trouble here, especially if he has something like...queens or jacks."

The dealer turned up the five of hearts.

"Also, playing kings like this really helps balance your range, which is...great when you're playing against elite competition. Plus, Gale has a pretty wide range of hands that he's flatting with on the button, including hands like...six seven suited, so if you're gonna call with a hand like that, it's nice to balance your range by calling with kings as well once in awhile."

"That's a pretty good turn card for Gale. Very unlikely that Takeru has a five in his hand, so it shouldn't have changed anything. If Gale was good on the flop, he's likely good on the turn."

Takeru slowly counted through the stacks of chips that remained in front of him.

"Does Takeru ever have eight seven here? Like eight seven suited?"

"Uh...that might be the very bottom of his hijack opening range, I guess, but if it is there, it's a very small part of his range. I think it's much more likely he's got two overs or an overpair. Like, Gale has eight seven here a lot more often than Takeru."

Takeru checked over to Gale.

"The pot is now two hundred and sixteen thousand. Takeru has a little more than one point one million left, Gale's the effective stack with a bit less than a million back."

"Obviously, we're still pretty early in the tournament, and rebuys are adding a million chips each, but...it's kind of fun how deep stacked players are in this tournament. Everyone starts with five hundred bigs, there are no antes for the first several hours, it's great how many chips these guys have."

Gale began to slowly gather up some of his green chips.

"Well, Gale's going to go for some value here, he's sizing up a bet."

"Well, I think TK...sorry, Takeru, checking removes bluffs from his range, so...it seems like he has something. If he had nothing, you'd figure he'd keep betting. And assuming he has something, Gale needs to try to get some value out of it."

Gale slid out two lavender chips, two green chips, and two red chips.

"Wow, very small bet relative to the size of the pot. Sixty-two thousand into two hundred and sixteen thousand. Gives Takeru a great price to call if he does actually have something."

Takeru craned his head up a bit to look over at the bet, then began to consider his own stack.

"Do you think that maybe he grabbed the wrong chips? Like, Daisy, why would someone bet that small in that spot?"

"Um...possibly to induce a bluff, it looks like a blocker bet. I guess maybe he's comfortable with Takeru calling with anything of equity, because...yeah, you're right, Takeru's going to call with any pair...if he's open-ended with a seven, he's calling...if he just picked up a flush draw, he's calling. He might even call with naked ace-highs because the price is so good, and it's a flop where ace-high could be good some of the time."

"Do you like the bet?"

"Not...not really. When Takeru checks there, he's often got something like...pocket sevens, pocket eights, possibly all the way up to pocket queens, and if he has those hands, he's going to call a bigger bet. You're missing out on value from hands like those. Takeru's calling one hundred and ten if he has an overpair for sure, you gotta get more chips out of those hands."

Takeru tossed a blue disc resembling a drink coaster towards the dealer.

"Takeru has just used a time bank chip, he wants an extra minute to think about what he wants to do here."

Takeru's eyes were glued to the pot in the middle of the table, counting through the assortment of chips.

"So, what's his decision? What would make him feel like he needs a extra minute to decide what he wants to do here?"

"I think he's just trying to decipher what a bet that small means. Like, is it a merge, is it a blocker bet, is he trying to induce, is he just bluffing and trying to keep his costs down, questions like that."

Takeru slid out a full stack of green chips, put a full stack of red chips on either side of it, and then pushed these three towers out.

"WOW, Takeru's gonna raise it, and that looks like a pretty big raise, uh...two hundred and forty thousand chips! So it's a raise of one hundred and seventy-eight thousand, pretty big one, and...well, what kind of message is that gonna send to Gale?"

Gale waited for the dealer to count out the bet before looking back down at his cards.

"Well, he's certainly not folding, his hand is way too strong and way too under-represented to fold on this board. And, look, when you bet out that small on the turn, you have to have a plan, and Gale has to be aware that one possible outcome is he induces a bluff. Takeru could very easily look at a bet that small and just think, this pot is mine, I'm just gonna blow on it and Gale's gonna go away. How can he have anything good when he bets that small?"

Gale tossed in seven lavender chips, following it with three red ones.

"So do you think Takeru is bluffing?"

"Quite conceivably. It's definitely possible that he sees that small turn bet as weakness."

"Maybe something like a semi-bluff with ace queen of hearts?"

With the call made, the river card came up the ace of clubs.

"Well, if that's the case, Takeru's gotta be pretty happy now, that ace of clubs...not exactly Gale's favorite river."

Takeru looked over at this river card for a few seconds, then looked over at Gale's remaining chips behind.

"Looks like he's planning a bet here. Daisy, what do you think?"

"Takeru never has ace queen of hearts here, ever, that's...if he played ace anything of hearts like this, I think that's pretty bad. He'd be opening himself up to getting blown off the hand on the turn if Gale re-raised, which is bad because you have real equity, so Takeru should just be calling with those hands. If he has a semi-bluff, it's something with less equity, like a straight draw, or maybe two overs, or—"

"I'm all-in," Takeru announced.

"WHOOOAA! Takeru ships, and he has Gale covered, so this is Gale's tournament life to call! Wow, I...I mean, what do you do here with two kings?! Sick spot!"

Gale blinked down hard a few times, pursing his lips, running his hand through short blonde hair.

"Man, I don't know, this is...this is tough. If you're Gale, you're sitting there and you're thinking there's no way Takeru can put me on kings. Like, he's under-repped his hand massively. But even still, the way Takeru has played this hand, how can two kings be good?"

Gale scratched at the back of his head, grimacing.

"Daisy, what does...what do you think's going on here? What does Takeru have? You have a better chance of guessing than us, I think."

"I...I just don't think he's bluffing at this point, I don't think he'd risk almost all of his stack on a bluff, so I agree that kings aren't good here very often. Uh...the flopped sets that filled up on the turn make sense, obviously...he might play pocket aces just like this, makes a boat on the river...eight seven suited, that's all the top of his value range. Maybe he has a five, I don't know how many fives he can have."

Gale tossed one of his time bank chips over to the dealer.

"Yeah, this is a pretty huge decision, so this makes sense. Is...is there any chance that Takeru is doing this with a hand like...I don't know, pocket jacks, thinking that he has the best hand because of how slow Gale played kings?"

"I don't think he bets this big with hands like that, even queens, since...what can you get called by that you're beating? I, I don't think Gale beats any of Takeru's value. What Gale really doesn't like is...it is possible that Takeru was turning an ace-high hand that isn't a flush draw into a bluff on the turn. He could easily have done that, then decide to just move in when he makes top pair on the river."

Remaining silent, Gale nevertheless made it clear that this was a particularly agonizing decision for him with a wrinkling, pained expression on his face.

"Would Takeru shove with something like...ace ten?"

"I think it's possible. He might just figure if he checks, he's not gonna fold to a bet, so he may as well move in to get value out of pocket pairs beneath aces. One of those things where you know you're gonna check-call, so you may as well shove to try to get a hand like kings to hero."

"That's what makes this so hard for Gale, he's now losing to...to a bunch of hands that Takeru was bluffing the turn with. Like I said, when you bet that small, you have to understand that you're going to induce a bluff a decent percentage of the time, but that river...a lot of those bluffs now beat you!"

After several more seconds, Gale tossed in another time bank chip.

"That's his last one, he's got one minute to make this decision. Daisy, is there any possibility that Takeru's just taking a shot here with a bluff, knowing he can just rebuy if he gets called? I mean, Gale Ernst is one of the players in this tournament who ISN'T in love with the idea of rebuying, that's part of it, right?"

"I definitely don't think...don't think Takeru is doing this because he doesn't care about the quarter million, I think that's silly and pretty bad. Maybe he's bluffing, but it's not for that reason, although...this play might stem from the fact that Gale Ernst doesn't have hundreds of millions of dollars in bankroll to rebuy, so it's harder to call light. I still feel like this is a fold, just...how can two kings be good given the action?"

Finally, Gale slid his cards back over to the dealer.

"And Gale lets the kings go! And we're gonna find out what Takeru had here!"

Takeru grabbed his cards, turned them face up, and spun them over into the middle of the table. Queen of diamonds and seven of diamonds.

"WHOA! Queen seven of diamonds! Whaaaaaat?!"

Gale, with a wry little smile, nodded over towards Takeru. "That's pretty good," he said in a thickly accented voice.

"Soooo...I guess his hijack opening range is a lot wider than I thought."

"Wow, what a...what a bold play by the kid! Wow! Man, he found a...he crowbarred his way to winning that hand! Wow!"

"You just looked so curious about what I had," Takeru said with a small smile, looking over at Gale.

OOO

"I have to make the final table though," Takeru explained, pointing at the Big Stack Poker patch on the left chest of his jacket. "If I make the final table, Big Stack pays my buyin."

"Holy crap, I wanna get sponsored so bad," Jake replied, eyes wide as he looked over at him from across the table. "So it's worth a quarter million dollars to Big Stack for you to final table?"

"Yeah, that was part of my deal," Takeru answered. "For as long as I'm sponsored by Big Stack, if I can make the final table, they cover my entire buyin of any televised tournament I play." He tapped the patch a few times. "Getting this logo on TV in front of millions, worth a hell of a lot."

"That's pretty freaking sweet. Quarter million dollar bonus just for doing what God put you on the planet to do." Jake nodded. "I gotta win something soon so I can get sponsored."

The dealer began to whisk out cards to each player.

"Takeru pulling off a little humble-brag about the benefits of his sponsorship. Can't say I blame him, part of his deal is he actually owns a point of Big Stack, which is worth quite a bit. I'd be humble-bragging too."

"Believe me, I've heard...more than enough about the details of Takeru's sponsorship."

Takeru, with action folding around to him, had a look down at the eight of spades and seven of spades.

"You'll get sponsored before long, I'm sure, Daisy."

"Maybe. Gotta win something first. And not all sponsorships are created equal. Takeru's is about as sweet as it gets, believe me."

Takeru slid out a stack of twenty green chips and four lavender chips.

"Takeru's raising from middle position with suited connectors, that's to three hundred thousand."

Josh Landry had a look down at two fives, head ducking down slightly as he considered his next move.

"Surprised Takeru's even allowed to talk about the details of his sponsorship publically. That information's potentially something that could cause other Big Stack professionals to be unhappy."

"Yeah, but the problem is, that information is actually already known publically. If you go online and read some of the forums, people find out about this stuff somehow, so...Big Stack lets people talk about it, since it doesn't matter."

Landry folded his hand.

"Wow, Landry lets the pocket fives go. Pretty tight."

"There's obviously a reason for these guys to play very tight here, a very good reason too. We've got twenty-two players left, and only the top twenty cash. The next two players eliminated get zilch, twentieth place picks up over four hundred and thirty grand. Kind of a big deal to last at least another hour or two."

Folds continued around the table, over to the big blind.

"Takeru Ishida possesses an above average stack with about ten million behind, one of the biggest stacks in the room. So it's a good idea to stay out of his way with all but the most premium of hands."

Jake Hill had a glance down at the ace of hearts and king of clubs.

"That would certainly be a premium hand, Jake Hill has ace king in the big blind. Will it be a three-bet, or a sneaky sneaky flat?"

Jake looked down at his chips.

"Jake Hill has about seven million chips back, which is right near tournament average. Obviously doesn't really want to go to war with a guy who has him covered, but he's got a big hand."

He got out two full stacks of green, placed a stack of lavender next to it, then added two silver chips to this large collection. The entire series of chips went out into the pot.

"Looks like a raise! Those green stacks are worth a hundred thousand each, the lavender stack is half a million, and those silvers are worth a hundred thousand each, so...he is raising to nine hundred thousand! More than ten percent of his stack!"

Jake took back his big blind after pushing out this large collection of clay chips.

"And that could easily win the pot right here. Takeru's got a good hand, but he's gotta realize that...that Jake is only going to do this with the most premium of holdings, right?"

Takeru stared over at Jake for several long seconds.

"No, I...Jake Hill is an active player, he definitely has three-bet bluffs in his range, especially when he has sixty big blinds. Besides, eight seven suited flops really well, TK's definitely gonna take a flop in position here."

"I'm actually starting to like the TK thing, you said all his close friends call him that?"

Takeru slid out a full stack of lavender chips, adding a silver chip as well.

"Yeah, it's just a...I guess it just saves a syllable. Little more informal. And it was probably what he called himself when he was a baby and couldn't quite pronounce Takeru right, so it's great that we get to remind him of that."

The dealer slapped down three cards, eight of hearts, jack of diamonds, ace of diamonds.

"Those are the best nicknames, I think. Like, your name is kind of hard to pronounce, so when you're two years old, you just do the best you can, those are...really good."

"In any case, both players have a piece. Jake Hill has flopped top pair, Takeru hits bottom pair. Two very aggressive, capable players, both have a piece of the board, should be pretty interesting."

"Daisy, is your man in trouble here?"

Jake began to gather chips together, putting out some of his remaining silver chips.

"Well, he's probably going to call once on the flop, but...most of the time he can fold the turn, so pretty minimal damage. And, really, he could even fold now, a pair of eights is very rarely good."

"Two point one million chips in the middle already."

Armed with ten silver chips and eight lavender ones, Jake plunged his chips forward into the pot.

"One point...one point two million, close to sixty percent of the pot. Pretty big bet from the aggressive Mister Hill."

Takeru took several long seconds to consider this bet before reaching down towards his stack.

"Looks like he's at least considering calling this. I know he's got the pair, but he has to know that he's behind against any hand that Hill plays like this, right? What do you think, Daisy, you're the expert."

"Uh...heh, based off my success on the queen seven hand two days ago, maybe not, but...one thing that might be happening here is that TK can represent an ace a lot better than Hill can. Hill only has...basically two hands that have an ace in them, aces and ace king, and TK can have...pretty much any decent ace, ace queen, ace jack, ace ten..maybe even worse than that."

Takeru put out the one point two million in chips after a few more seconds.

"So I think TK is doing this with the plan to try to bluff later on since he can represent the ace better. Like, if Hill has pocket queens or pocket tens here, even pocket kings, bets, and gets called, he's definitely sitting there right now thinking...crap, he obviously has an ace, I have to just check-fold now."

The dealer burned and turned the queen of hearts.

"Unfortunately for TK, Hill actually DOES have an ace, so...his plan not might work out quite so well."

"Queen of hearts on the turn, makes the board even scarier. There's four and a half million in the middle, which is pretty close to the size of Hill's remaining stack, things are getting serious!"

Jake, after a few seconds, checked over to Takeru.

"So...Jake now has to worry about ace queen, queen jack, nine ten, king ten, pocket queens, those hands just improved to beat him. That should help Takeru if he's thinking larcenist thoughts. Just a little less that Jake can beat."

Takeru began to gather chips together.

"Well, Jake's check on the turn has convinced Takeru he's not that strong, he's going to try to use that queen to push him off."

Takeru fired out fourteen silver chips and three lavender ones.

"That's nearly one and a half million from Takeru, about a third of the pot, quite small. Don't think he can get rid of Jake right here for that price."

Jake brushed his fingers over his lips a few times, pushing a head of curly black hair back underneath his hoodie.

"Yeah, it's small, but Jake only has...less than five million left, so it's still enough to make him feel uncomfortable. And he's likely trying to set up a river shove that Jake can't call."

Jake finally slid out a collection of chips that matched Takeru's.

"Jake Hill does have a straight draw, needs a ten to make broadway. Still has top pair top kicker. And Takeru has shown, many times, he's an active, aggressive player, capable of doing a lot of crazy things. Add it all up, and it's enough to make this call."

With the bets paid, the dealer threw out the nine of diamonds.

"Well, there's an...atrocious river card for Jake Hill. The flush just came in, any ten is now a straight, and...ace king is now beating precisely nothing."

Quickly, Jake checked.

"Well, Takeru certainly knows a pair of eights is never the best hand. He's got to be aware of that, and he's played this hand with the plan to bluff here. Can he follow through?"

Takeru looked down at the chips still in front of him.

"The pot size is seven and a half million. Jake has about three and a half million left. It seems to be set up perfectly."

"I'm all-in," Takeru announced, taking a small handful of chips and pushing them forward.

"And there it is! Takeru is all-in, which puts Jake Hill all-in, and here comes the decision of the tournament so far!"

Pushing out a large, heavy breath, Jake sat up. "Wow. No blanks in that deck, huh?"

"Daisy, what say you? Is this bluff gonna get through?"

"There is one hand in the universe that Jake can reasonably put TK on that Jake can beat. King jack of hearts, which decides to turn into a bluff on the river. Other than that, all you have is...completely random hands that TK floated the flop with, which is basically what he has. Keep in mind, we're almost on the bubble, calling and being wrong is worth an insane amount of money. And rebuying in is no longer viable, with the average stack being six and a half times the initial starting amount."

"I don't think I can call," Jake groaned. "Hate to let it go though, I mean...it's you. I've seen you do crazy stuff."

Takeru didn't react, waiting in silence, the entire table having eyes on Jake Hill.

"In order to make this call, Jake has to believe that he's got the best hand here somewhere around forty percent of the time. He might not have the best hand four percent of the time on this runout."

Finally, Jake slid his cards back over to the muck.

"And Takeru gets it through! Jake Hill lays down the best hand, and Takeru consolidates his large stack!"

Takeru slid his cards over to the dealer as well. "You had to fold it," he said as the pot got pushed over to him. "Ace king doesn't beat anything on that board."

Jake gave an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, I...can't beat anything."

"Can't beat anything, except what Takeru has! Another great bluff by the young prodigy!"

OOO

"Great playing with you all," Koushiro threw his jacket up over his left shoulder, waving. "Enjoy yourselves."

Takeru stood up from his seat and went over to Koushiro. "Thanks for the place to stay, man. Great tournament." He leaned up into Takeru, wrapping his right arm around the back of his neck and pulling him in close.

"Takeru and Koushiro have developed a close friendship in recent months, Takeru sure to congratulate him on finishing seventh in this tournament. Koushiro likes to say he's not a great tournament player, but his recent results would indicate something else!"

Koushiro, after returning the display of affection, slowly made his way towards the exit tunnel behind his former chair.

"Seventh place is good for a cash of one point forty three million dollars. Koushiro actually rebought once in this tournament, so his actual profit is just shy of one million. Not bad for four days of work."

"Koushiro's results lately have been stellar, cash and tournament, so don't let his analysis of his own game fool you. This kid knows this game as well as anyone right now."

Takeru sat back down in his seat as the dealer fired out cards.

"Six left in this super high roller, average chip stack is just short of twenty-five million. Blinds are two hundred and fifty thousand and half a million. Next player out hits for over one point eight million dollars."

Jimmy Polk, after a fold from Perry Iverson, carefully considered his cards.

"Perry Iverson is our chip leader, nearly forty million. Perry has won this tournament three years in a row, so this tournament is kind of like his own personal bank machine. Jimmy Polk's got about twenty one million, and it looks like he's planning to open this pot with ace four offsuit."

"When you're six handed, you can widen your opening range a bit. Any ace is worth taking a shot at the pot."

Jimmy tossed out one gold chip along with a silver one.

"Raise to one point one million. Will it get through?"

A quick flood of folds went up to Takeru in the big blind, who had a look down at the ten of clubs and nine of diamonds.

"Don't think Takeru is folding for six hundred thousand more. Ten nine offsuit is just good enough to at least have a look at the flop. Although we are getting just shallow enough for it to be debatable."

Takeru tossed out six silver chips.

"And he will make the call. Jimmy's the effective stack here with twenty million back, but Takeru just barely has him covered, so this is potentially a big deal for both players if things accelerate in this pot."

The dealer put down the three of spades, ten of hearts, and deuce of diamonds.

"Three ten deuce rainbow board, Takeru takes the lead with top pair. Polk with a straight draw. Three million in this pot."

Takeru checked over to Jimmy.

"This is a pretty dry flop, all Takeru can realistically have here that hits this is a ten. Polk has a draw, so he can continuation bet and typically take it down. Of course, Takeru does have a ten, so there will be no taking it down."

Jimmy eventually checked behind, tapping the table.

"No continuation bet here, Polk checks. Ace high can sometimes be the best hand, and Jimmy wants to just keep his costs down and try to realize the full equity of his gutshot as well."

A deuce of hearts went face up on the turn.

"Well, there's a card that doesn't change anything. Pairs the board, puts a second heart out there, and doesn't change either player's hand."

Takeru slid out a gold chip and six silver ones, quickly plucking them from the tops of his stacks.

"Takeru won't check again, he has every reason to believe his top pair is the best hand given this. Jimmy looks a lot like he has an ace high hand, or maybe a small pair, Takeru can get value out of a hand like that."

Jimmy thought for several long seconds.

"Jimmy Polk is a mainstay at these super high roller events, plays in as many of them as he can. The super high roller community tends to be very tight knit, it's a group of players who know each other very well, a lot of close friends. Jimmy is certainly one of that group. And you have to figure Takeru is on his way to being part of that community given his recent results."

Polk slid out six silver chips, adding a gold one to it.

"And he's going to call. Ace high is sometimes going to be the best hand, he can hit an ace on the river, and of course, there's the tantalizing possibility of getting a five to make your straight."

The river card, however, brought the six of clubs.

"There's another brick for both players, neither player has much of a strong feeling about that six."

"Well, if someone happened to have five four, they've just made a straight. Either player could reasonably have five four suited, I think. So it's not a complete blank."

Takeru, stoically considering his choices, finally put out four gold chips, three silver chips, and three lavender chips.

"Pretty large value bet for Takeru, although he very likely has the best hand here. Seventy percent of the pot, looks like. Four point four million nearly."

"I don't think Jimmy can profitably call with ace high here. If Takeru bet something like two and a half million, maybe even three, Doug could contemplate actually heroing. Don't think he can hero here."

Jimmy remained motionless, one arm extended out past the yellow line on the felt, other hand gripping his forearm.

"He could consider raising. Would put Takeru in a tough spot. He's got over eighteen million chips back, there's enough room to put some pressure on."

Jimmy tossed out twelve gold chips.

"And that's exactly what he's going to do, that is a RAISE to twelve point million!"

Takeru, sighing heavily, sat back in his chair. "Uh-huh."

"Takeru does not like that. He was hoping to just get called by...maybe pocket fives or pocket sevens. Now, he has to worry about a slowplayed overpair, or maybe even even five four."

Takeru tossed a time bank chip over towards the dealer. "I think I'm gonna need this."

"Takeru pays one of his time bank chips in advance, he decides he's gonna need the extra minute for sure. This looks like a value bet from Polk, he's left himself six million back."

"Yeah, that's a big thing here. It's actually a little more intimidating that he's betting smaller. It looks like he wants to make it a little easier to get called. But a player as good as Jimmy Polk is going to have bluffs when he raises like this sometimes, and Takeru needs to be aware of that."

"Maybe you think I'm bluffing with the best hand," Takeru said to himself. "Maybe you put me on...missed hearts? Ace jack of hearts. You can't beat that, but you think I can't call a raise."

"Always fun when these players talk themselves through a hand out loud. And that's a very valid thought, Takeru had two monster bluffs earlier in this tournament, and has actually been quite passive in this final table. As a poker player, you need to be aware of how the other players at the table perceive you, and play accordingly. The whole table knows that Takeru did two monster bluffs earlier, so he decided to slow down a bit, not stick his neck out with so many bluffs. Now, he's wondering if Polk is under the belief he's turning missed hearts into a bluff, and thinks he can blow him off it. So, he's actually got a pair, and can call a little more comfortably."

"Five four of hearts?" Takeru squinted. "Makes all the sense in the world."

"If Takeru calls and gets it wrong, he'll be down to about eight million in chips. Sixteen big blinds. Not the end of the world, but not particularly good."

"You're not playing jacks like this, are you?" Takeru licked his lips. "No, that would be silly."

"Earlier in this tournament, we had Daisy Scott in the booth, and she did her best to break down Takeru's mindset in some of his big hands. She's not here today, would be interesting to hear what she thinks about this."

Finally, Takeru tossed a single gold chip forward.

"You win," Jimmy said, turning over his ace four. Takeru tabled his ten nine.

"And Takeru makes a crying call, and he's right! Jimmy forced to show he had absolutely nothing, Takeru is now one of the big stacks! After a final table of mostly playing peacefully, he finally locks down a big pot at the expense of Jimmy Polk, who is crippled!"

OOO

The dealer put out the nine of hearts.

"Ooof, terrible terrible card for Takeru. He now has second pair, just enough to potentially call, and he's calling into a monster."

"How much do you have behind?" Iverson asked.

"Iverson is planning a value bet, Takeru has about twenty-five million back, there's a bit more than ten million in the pot. Perry Iverson has a straight, he's holding six four on a board with three five seven, and Takeru just made a pair, he's got nine eight."

Perry put in seven golden chips.

"Seven million is the value bet, and Takeru can't be loving this."

Takeru, with a look of resignation, looked back down at the nine of clubs and eight of hearts in his hand. He threw his right arm up a little bit, grimacing slightly.

"We're three handed, a pair of nines has to look pretty good here. I don't think Takeru can fold on that river."

"Might have been the worst card in the deck for me," Takeru said, face wrinkling up a bit. "Maybe the best?" He pushed out seven gold chips.

"And Perry Iverson, who is now an overwhelming chip leader, tables his straight, which has Takeru's pair crushed!"

Takeru pushed his cards back over towards the dealer, nodding. "So it was the worst card."

"Queen nine?" Barry Lewis asked as the pot was pushed over to Iverson.

"Not quite that good," Takeru answered. He put out one gold chip past the yellow line, along with two silvers. "I've got seventeen million behind."

"And that pot means that Takeru is in immediate danger of going out in third place, he's now the short stack with just seventeen big blinds. Any pot he plays could be his last!"

"Yeah, if he picks something up of any value, he might just...he might just rip anything half-decent."

Perry put out two gold chips and two silvers, prompting an immediate fold from Barry and Takeru.

"Uncontested pot there, Perry picks it up without even getting to the flop. Kind of a big deal to pick up blinds and antes when they're this big, and Perry can certainly lord over the table with his stack being what it is."

"When's your third Premier League heat?" Barry asked, turning to Takeru, as another hand was put out.

"Couple weeks," Takeru answered. "I need a good one, or I'm in trouble."

"I have one in two days," Barry said. "You like the format?" As he spoke, he looked down at the jack of hearts and ten of spades.

"It's interesting," Takeru said, pushing out his small blind. "I don't know how I'm gonna play my third heat yet, need to think about that."

Barry tossed out two gold chips and two silver chips.

"Everyone's just raising my blinds," Takeru said wryly, looking down at the ace of clubs and five of clubs.

"And this is probably the time to go. Takeru picks up a suited ace in the small blind, he can't flat, so there's only one good move left."

"All-in," Takeru announced.

"There it is! Takeru's tournament is officially on the line, and action is on chip leader Perry Iverson! Will this hand result in us getting to heads up? Or will Takeru build up a viable stack by doubling here?"

"I'm all-in," Perry said, getting an immediate fold from Barry.

"And Perry's going to try it, he's got ace queen offsuit, which means Takeru is dominated and in trouble!"

Takeru turned over his cards, prompting Perry to turn over his.

"Queen of clubs," Takeru said, putting his hands up behind his head. "Just put down the queen of clubs and...and the two of clubs on this flop. Make it fun."

After a beat, the dealer turned over the five of hearts, queen of clubs, and eight of clubs.

"That is CERTAINLY fun for both players, five queen eight with two clubs! Takeru has a pair of fives and the nut flush draw, but Perry does lead with a pair of queens. You want to talk about the action flop, that's about as action as it gets."

"Only on television," Perry said, grinning. "Only ever see flops like this on television."

"Perry holds fifty-seven percent equity as of now. Takeru needs to see a club or a five to take the lead."

A three of hearts on the turn made things more dire for Takeru's tournament life.

"That's about as big a brick as you can have, that card will change nothing. Perry now a three-to-one favorite."

"We gonna see you in the other super high rollers?" Perry asked, looking over at Takeru. "You'd fit right in with the crew, keep showing up to em."

"Well, I kind of...kind of won the biggest super high roller in history, so I feel compelled to," Takeru said.

A nine of spades on the river ended Takeru's tournament.

"At least it was black," Takeru said, standing up. "Alright, you two have fun."

"And Takeru's officially been busted out of the Panok Millions quarter million buyin tournament, he finishes in third! Third place is good for a prize of two point eight million dollars, he outlasted many legends of the game, and he continues to build his poker portfolio!"

Takeru shook Perry's hand. "Great playing with you. See you down the line."

"Seems like nothing can stop this kid, he keeps putting up absolutely phenomenal results every time he shows up, that's another big, big feather in his cap."

Takeru went over to the rail, putting his arms out to his sides, wrapping Ken, Daisy, and Hikari in a group hug. "Podium!" he said in a sharp whisper.

"We are now heads up for a grand prize of over nine point three million as Takeru departs, as Perry goes for the four-peat!"

"Nothing can stop you right now," Ken said, patting Takeru on the back of the head. "Holy shit, nothing can stop you right now." 


	42. Elite Misstep

Chapter 42: Elite Misstep

"Live from The Crown Royale in Domin City, Big Stack Poker presents Taking On The Pros!"

"I guess there's no such thing as an easy table draw on this show." David Tuckman muttered, tugging at the collar of his shirt. "But this feels especially brutal. I feel like I don't have a chance."

"Pick on me," Daisy suggested with a sly smile. "I'm the weakest player here. Just target me."

"Weakest player...discounting me, right?" David said, raising an eyebrow over towards her, seated to his immediate right. "Because just to let you know, I haven't...finished third in any super high rollers lately."

Daisy nodded. "Okay, sure, but I'm the one you might be able to target. I'm, I'm the only professional at this table who doesn't have a bracelet yet, I haven't won a professional tournament yet."

"I can't target anyone," David said, grinning nervously and scratching the side of his neck. "Everyone's targeting me, and I know it. That's the problem!"

"David Tuckman is getting a little friendly with Daisy Scott, and who can blame him? When you're an amateur player stuck at a table full of professional sharks, you may as well take solace in the beautiful young woman sitting to your right."

"Alright." David cleared his throat. "I know there isn't any going easy on me, so I won't ask."

"The cards are getting in the air, we're getting underway here on Taking On The Pros, let's go over the rules!"

"Taking On The Pros is a six-handed high stakes cash game. Blinds are two hundred and four hundred with a one hundred dollar ante. Five of our players are either professional players or high-stakes regulars. Our sixth player is an amateur who wins their seat via an online qualifier. Big Stack Poker stakes this amateur with a hundred thousand dollars to buy in, and the amateur gets to play one hundred and fifty hands against the professionals. Any profit made by the amateur at the end of a hundred and fifty hands, the amateur gets to take home. If the amateur fails to turn a profit, they take home nothing. As an added bonus, at the end of the year, whichever amateur managed to make the most profit also wins a World Poker Tour passport worth fifty thousand dollars in tournament buyins."

Takeru folded his cards over to the dealer, followed shortly by Ken.

"David Tuckman is our amateur today, he's a television reporter who enjoys playing small stakes cash games at casinos and online, and he's got the opportunity of a lifetime. He faces a brutal lineup of opponents. Takeru Ishida, four-time bracelet winner and the number one G.P.I. player on the planet right now. Ken Ichijouji, who has a bracelet of his own and seven figures in tournament cashes. Tom Bonomo, another bracelet winner, who played in his first ever world series a few months ago and had fantastic results. Daisy Scott, two scores of over half a million dollars in the last five months. And Vanessa Albright, winner of two super high roller events in the last eighteen months and a three-time bracelet winner."

"Don't let her level you, kid," Takeru said, looking across the table over at David. "She'll eat you alive if you let her."

"Takeru's rocking the dark green jacket with the long lilac tie combo. Mixing it up with the fashion."

"It's kind of...schoolboy uniform at a high-end academy chic, you know?"

"Well, a couple years ago, he was literally a schoolboy at a high-end academy, so...pretty reasonable."

Daisy, on the button, looked down at the ace of spades and deuce of hearts.

"Alright, I'm in," she said, tossing in one green and yellow chip along with six red ones.

"Daisy opens the pot to sixteen hundred. Min raise, pretty dang weird. She must have forgotten the straddle was on."

David looked down at the eight of spades and six of spades.

"I doubt Mister Tuckman is loving this straddle business. It's bloating the pot and reducing the amount of play he can get from his hundred grand. Any of these pros would love to get involved with eight six suited, but it's a lot harder for the amateur."

"I'm gonna raise it," David announced.

"Whoa! Aggro alert! The amateur is coming right out firing away with small suited one-gappers!"

"Thirty-five hundred." David slid out a handful of chips, three green and yellows and five reds.

"So we've got a tiny raise from Daisy and then the tiny re-raise from David, this hand's getting a little funky already."

"Huh, thirty-five hundred?" Daisy said, biting her lower lip.

"I do like the aggressive re-raise from the amateur, especially when Daisy opens the button, but that size isn't going to get it done."

Tom folded his big blind, Vanessa folded her straddle.

"Hey, Takeru, when does your final table start tomorrow?" Vanessa asked, looking over at Takeru. "It's tomorrow, right?"

"Eleven," Takeru answered.

"That's right, Takeru made ANOTHER tournament final table this week, a ten thousand six-max tournament. He's officially in Zachary Fischer territory with his recent success."

"It's a little small, David," Daisy said, pointing down at the chips David had put out.

"W-what?" David asked, looking over at Daisy.

"It's okay, David, she's talking about your raise size, I promise."

"Your raise size, you raised too small," Daisy explained. "It's basically a click-back. If you make a raise to, like, seven thousand, it means I have a real decision. Now I don't. You see what I'm saying?"

"Uh, uh-huh," David said, nodding.

"If you had made a bigger raise, this hand probably doesn't happen, I probably don't call." Daisy tossed out a couple green and yellow chips. "But when you raise that small, I have to call with anything, it doesn't matter what I have. And now you're out of position, bunch of weird things can happen."

"Every hand played with Daisy Scott comes with a free poker lesson. And she's being completely honest too, ace deuce offsuit is an easy fold to any decently sized raise."

"Oh, yeah, I am out of position, aren't I?" David said, looking around the table. "You're right."

"Yeah, it's gonna be hard now for you no matter what happens."

"This is a high-stress situation for the amateur, he can't be blamed for making some mistakes."

The flop came eight of clubs, ten of diamonds, four of clubs.

"Well, maybe I want to play with you," David said, giving a small smile. "You know, you're...you're Daisy Scott, why wouldn't I want to play with you?"

"Takeru, you can't abide by that kind of talk. Get up, slap him in the face with the velvet gloves you have in your pocket, and challenge him to a duel at ten paces!"

"I don't think people do that anymore, Joe."

"I'm fourth in chips," Takeru said under his breath over towards Vanessa. "Dan Tran's chip leader, it's...it's actually pretty flat."

"Okay, so, now, I'm gonna do the donk bet," David said, tossing out a blue chip.

"It's not a donk bet," Daisy said. "You were the preflop raiser, that's a continuation bet."

"Oh, right, yeah yeah, continuation bet," David replied, nodding. "Five thousand."

"David flops a pair of eights, and he bets five thousand. Daisy's got stone nothing, but that might not discourage her. This is the sort of spot where a professional can try to scare off an amateur just with the power of a big raise."

"But now, it's gonna be kind of hard for you," Daisy continued, pointing down at the board. "Because there's a lot of funky stuff that can happen." She looked back down at the three cards. "Look at the board, think about all the bad cards that can come on the turn."

"Yeah, it's not a...it's not exactly a dry board," David agreed. "Pretty textured out there."

"Like, a bad card can come, and then I could just bluff-raise you out. I could turn a pair into a bluff, that's always fun to do. Just a lot of bad things can happen now." She tossed out a blue chip as well.

"Daisy just calls with ace high and no particular re-draw. Doubtlessly, she plans on bluffing later on. This is going to be interesting, Daisy is probably putting the amateur on an overpair or two overcards, not likely eight six."

The five of hearts was the turn card.

"Interesting turn card, the five gives both players a straight draw. David still way in the lead with a pair of eights."

"I check," David said.

"Mandatory bet from Daisy now that she's picked up some extra outs. Won't be an easy call for David either."

Daisy, after thinking for a few minutes, grabbed two blue chips. "Nine thousand," she said, tossing them forward.

"Maybe not such a hard call after all, Daisy bets less than half the pot."

"Call," David announced, putting out two blue chips as well. They both got one green and yellow chip back.

"If David doesn't improve significantly on this river, Daisy should be able to blow him off his hand. He can't put in such a big portion of his stack on a medium pair unless he's just the sickest soul reader ever."

The river card came the seven of spades.

"That would be significant improvement, David Tuckman has made a straight!"

"Disasterous card for Daisy, particularly if she decides to follow through on her plans of bluffing the amateur out. I don't think the amateur can be blown off this hand anymore."

David slid four blue chips forward. "Twenty."

"David is value betting his eight-high straight, twenty grand, and Daisy's stuck with a bad ace high."

She stared intently down at the board, then looked back down at her hole cards.

"Safe to say she's not calling, so there must be a devil on her shoulder trying to convince her to raise and take this pot away. This is very bad for her, she's likely putting Tuckman on a hand like two kings and is going to try to represent the straight herself."

Daisy craned her head up a bit to look at the chips David had behind.

"Daisy needs to think this through for a moment. Is a person in David's position going to check-call the turn and then lead out on the river with an overpair when a seven comes? Very unlikely, given he's the one person at this table who can not rebuy. If she can somehow put the pieces together and realize David's got a six, she can abandon her plan."

Daisy grabbed two large stacks of blue chips and slid them forward into the pot.

"Ooof," David groaned immediately, putting his hands up behind his head. "Wow."

"Daisy can't quite put it all together, she bluff-shoves for David's entire remaining stack! And David hasn't called yet."

"Huh." David grimaced. "We probably have the same hand. SO sick, maybe not though," he muttered. "Uh..." he leaned down and began counting the chips he had left. "You have jack nine, right?"

Daisy snorted a little bit. "Is...is that the same hand as you have?" she said with a small laugh. "Because it'd be kind of weird that you haven't called already then."

David slipped off his jacket. "Okay. sixty-five thousand left..." He groaned. "I, I don't have jack nine, obviously."

"There are two hands in the whole wide world that David can't beat. Nine six and jack nine both make bigger straights. If Daisy has anything else, David is chopping or winning, but calling and being wrong will end his appearance on our show after only a few hands. It's never easy for amateurs in these spots when they don't have the nuts.

"Can I call a friend or something?" David asked with a wry grin. "Like, can I call someone watching this show? It's a half hour delay, right?" He looked over at Daisy. "What do you have, Miss Scott?"

"Me?" Daisy looked over at him. "I have a straight." She nodded.

He put his hand up to cover his mouth. "Okay, so if you have that...I mean, it's not great."

"The other side of this for David is that if he calls and gets it right, he'll have more than a hundred thousand dollars in profit after only a couple hands and can put himself in great position to either preserve his profit or go for the passport. Plus, folding and having only sixty-five thousand behind puts him in a terrible position against this group of elite players."

"We might have a chop then, which...which straight do you have? Because I have a straight too," David said.

"Mmm, well, you have a six, then..." Daisy blinked a few times. "W-wait, you re-raised me out of the small blind with a six?"

"Uh...no," David said.

"Yeah, that's...that's crazy talk," Daisy said, pushing a lock of blonde hair out of her face. "Well, how do you have a straight?"

Slowly, David took one of his cards, the six of spades, and flipped it over for the table to see.

"O-oh, well, obviously," Daisy said, quickly turning away from David and looking down at the felt. "W-we all knew you had a six, that was a given," she said quickly.

"Those would be the words of a woman who had ABSOLUTELY no idea David had a six. She just realized she's likely getting called."

Daisy covered the right side of her face with her right hand.

"This is gonna look so bad on television when I fold," David muttered.

"Daisy's just trying to hold it together in the hopes that David decides he can't put his entire buyin on the line with the third nuts."

Daisy glanced over towards one of the television cameras, bugging her eyes out slightly.

"Alright." He sighed, then pushed the cards back over to the dealer.

"And David can't do it! He folds the straight, and let's Daisy take the pot with an ace-high bluff."

"My friends back home are gonna see that and laugh their asses off," he grunted. "It's gonna look so bad."

"W-well, it's a tough spot," Daisy mumbled, watching the chips get pushed in front of her. "You know, I...you kind of have to fold it."

She threw a sidelong glance over at Takeru, eyes bulging a bit yet again.

"Daisy's still shocked she told a good enough story to get him off the straight. She's getting called for sure by anyone who's not in this very specific position."

"Nice hand," David said quietly.

OOO

"Hey, you're clawing your way back up," Takeru said, languidly pointing over at the amateur's stack, left hand absentmindedly playing with the end of his tie. "What's that, ninety thousand?"

David rolled his eyes. "He's sizing me up, just trying to figure out how much money he can take off me when the time's right." He looked down the table. Yeah, ninety's about right."

"He is twirling that tie around like it's a handlebar mustache. Could Takeru Ishida become the next great poker villain?"

Tom Bonomo, after a look at the king of diamonds and nine of diamonds, tossed out a green and yellow chip with four red chips.

"Tom's in with king nine suited in the cutoff. Here's a guy who's having a spectacular night so far, up nearly one hundred and fifty thousand."

Vanessa folded queen ten offsuit rather quickly.

"Takeru's in the small blind looking down at ace jack offsuit, imagine we'll see at least a call. He is out of position, so a raise isn't out of the question either."

Takeru tossed out two reds and a green and yellow alongside it. Ken followed with a green and yellow chip of his own.

"Ken's got ace three of hearts, he's priced in to take a flop. We're looking at three of the best young players in the world right now. Bonomo won a bracelet at the world series AND won a Sienna Poker Tour event just a couple weeks ago. Ishida's reputation precedes him at this point. And Ichijouji is also a bracelet winner with several significant cashes in tournament play. Takeru and Tom are actually both playing at the same final table tomorrow, we might have a budding rivalry."

Ten of diamonds, seven of diamonds, eight of diamonds.

"Ten seven eight, all diamonds, holy wow! Bonomo flops the second nut flush with a redraw to a straight flush. Takeru also flops a straight flush draw, he's got the jack of diamonds, but the nine of diamonds he would need is in Bonomo's hand. Takeru probably likes this flop, but he's drawing stone dead, this could get ugly for him."

Takeru checked, Ken checking as well, putting action over to Tom.

"A lot of players would check behind here after flopping so good, afraid of scaring everyone off, but doesn't look like Tom is thinking about checking."

Tom pushed out four green and yellow chips.

"Four thousand into a pot of less than five. Pretty big bet, but Tom did have the betting lead, and his reputation as being an aggressive, active player means people aren't necessarily going to believe him. Tom's going to try to build a pot."

Takeru thought for a moment, scratching at his neck a few times.

"Takeru can't fold, and there's an argument for raising. At best, his ace high is the best hand right now, and at worst, he's got to assume he has at least one out. This is going to be really bad for him."

Takeru tossed out one blue chip.

"And Ken quickly folds after Takeru makes the call."

The dealer turned the ace of clubs.

"Terrible card for Takeru. He's now made top pair to go with his draws. It'll be even harder to fold now that he's improved, even though we know his pair is meaningless and none of his draws are going to matter."

Takeru checked again, allowing Tom to quickly push out two blues with one green and yellow.

"Eleven thousand is the bet."

"Tom can still be bluffing given this line he's taken. Takeru surely thinks he might have the best hand now, and if not, he can make the best hand on many rivers. Don't see him folding now."

"I call," Takeru said quietly, tossing a couple blue chips out.

"Takeru's got about a hundred thousand behind after making that call. If this river card ends up being a diamond, a jack, or an ace, that hundred thousand could be at risk."

The river card, however, was the inconsequential deuce of hearts.

"River bricks. Takeru just with top pair, Tom with the second nuts. He might be able to get away now."

Takeru checked again.

"Hoping for a check behind, but Tom's definitely going for value. He's bet big on the flop and turn, I would expect a similar bet now."

Tom fired out a black chip and a blue one.

"That's thirty thousand dollars. At this point, Takeru's only beating bluffs, so he's got to figure out how often Tom is triple-barreling here."

Takeru blinked down hard a few times, then looked back down at his cards.

"Takeru's not getting a great price to call, thirty thousand into sixty-five thousand, so he needs to be right often in order for calling to be profitable, and I think he's starting to smell that he's up against a value hand from Mister Bonomo."

Takeru twisted the end of his tie around his finger a few times. "I'm all-in," he announced.

"Takeru shoves for another sixty-seven thousand dollars."

"Huh. Really..." Tom leaned forward, brow furrowing.

"Even though Takeru has top pair, this is a bluff for certain. The way Takeru has played this hand, shoving now looks super strong, and can definitely get folds out of better hands than ace jack."

"I mean...I guess you have the ace of diamonds in your hand," Tom muttered. "What's the...what's the other card?"

"This is a play most players would only do if they had the ace of diamonds in their hand, Takeru's trying it without it. This bet is designed to fold out better aces, two pair, some sets, maybe even a straight. Unfortunately for Takeru, Tom has the top of his range, and even if he doesn't love this, he has to call."

"Uhhh..." Tom looked back down at the backs of his cards. "Y...y-yeah. I call," he finally said.

"I turned top pair into a bluff," Takeru said. "Ace jack."

Tom quickly turned over the king nine of diamonds. Takeru nodded.

"Yeah, that's uh...that's a pretty good hand," Takeru said, looking at the dealer and waving his hand out towards him, indicating his chips.

"And Takeru, who bought in for a hundred thousand dollars at the start of the day, is now felted."

"No no no, I'm not leaving," Takeru said, twisting his neck around and looking behind him. "I'll do another hundred thousand."

OOO

~Takeru~

When you're rich, it's not all that often that you get violently pulled out of sleep.

That was the first thought that went through Takeru's mind as he started awake when the bedroom door was thrown open with a loud crack. It wasn't fun to be jolted out of slumber like that, particularly when you weren't used to it. The feeling of your heart jumping into your throat and stomach sinking created an unpleasant effect. Typically, after this initial shock, you could gently ease yourself into the world of the awake, and realize that whatever had so rudely interrupted your rest was something harmless or insignificant.

Not quite this time. Takeru's body jolted up to find two human figures quickly stalking over to the bed. He glanced over to his right to see Daisy, similarly rocketing up into a sitting position. Before he could think to do anything else but take a general inventory of his surroundings, one of the intruders had ripped him from the bed and thrown him out onto the floor.

Takeru, while reasonably fit and healthy, was not equipped to do anything but land on the floor when such a series of events happened right after waking up. He heard a shriek and thought something similar might have happened to Daisy. Before he could do anything, the back of his shirt was roughly grabbed, and he was ripped up into a semi-upright position. He was pushed harshly towards the door in front of him, leaving him with nothing to do but crash through the door and into the large master bathroom of the luxury hotel room.

He landed on the floor, finally getting a moment to be mildly embarrassed that he was wearing nothing but a plain white tanktop and boxers, then realizing he had far bigger problems. He turned over just as the light was switched on, and after his eyes adjusted, he confirmed that realization.

The man standing in the doorway wore mostly black clothing and a black cloth mask that covered his face and left him unidentifiable. Of particular note to Takeru was the black pistol in his right hand, rendering any physical matchups between the two entirely irrelevant. The presence of the weapon hammered the seriousness of the situation home, and Takeru was able to immediately force himself to clear his mind and attempt to handle this situation.

"Up," he ordered, a simple and short command that he was quick to follow. He curled up a bit and got to his feet, taking things as slowly as possible.

Moments later, Ken, similarly half-dressed, entered the bathroom through the opposite entrance, rubbing the top of his head as he did so. He was followed very closely by a man who was essentially indistingushable from the man who had bullied Takeru into the room.

"You know, when you have a gun, you don't have to bother with throwing me headfirst into the wall," Ken muttered, wincing slightly.

"Shut up," the man commanded.

The four men, two covered in dark clothes and the other two wearing hardly any, stood there for a few seconds. Finally, Takeru took in a breath.

"There's probably about...seven or eight thousand dollars in cash here between the three of us here," he said, keeping his voice steady. Despite the presence of guns, this was very likely to be a situation that could be resolved without violence, if he could keep it under control. "Give me a few minutes, I'll get it together, you guys can go, real easy. The police won't even care that much if that's all you take."

"We didn't come here for your pocket change, kid," the man in front of Takeru growled.

Takeru blinked a few times, trying to not let the rough edge to his voice get to him. "Alright, I'm assuming you know who we are, but we don't keep hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash lying around, that's not—"

"Do you think we're stupid?!" he snapped, his right arm raising up a bit and resting the butt of the gun on the marble of the bathroom counter. "You think we came in here, broke in, went through all this trouble for a few thousand dollars?!"

Takeru took in a sharp breath. "L-look. If you want this to be easy for you, that's what this is gonna be. You take it any further than that, you make it harder for you to get away with it, so the best thing you can do—"

"My God," he muttered, almost sounding like he was in awe. "This is an arrogant little bastard alright. He thinks he can dictate anything right now, like he's got any power here. He just doesn't know how to shut up."

Takeru swallowed down hard, stomach starting to twist up in knots a little bit, his mind fluttering momentarily to the fact that Daisy hadn't been brought into the bathroom yet. "Okay...alright. All three of us are insured against kidnapping, like five million each. Congratulations. Just let me make a few phone calls, it'll be very easy."

With a quick squeeze, a hissing pop came from the pistol in the man's hand, firing straight into the bathroom wall. Silenced to the point of being an almost passive and gentle sound, the bullet blowing a hole right into the wall was enough to make Takeru wince.

"What are you thinking, huh?" the man asked, seemingly rhetorically. "Do you have any idea what you're stepping into? Do you even comprehend the shit you're messing with?!"

Takeru stared blankly, glancing over towards Ken for a moment. "Uh...I'm just a poker player traveling the world with my friends," he said, voice shaking slightly now. "I don't know what you're—"

"The people you're trying to take on, kid? They don't miss things. They don't let things go. They don't leave things to chance. Did you honestly think you could...bullshit your way to get one over on them? That's not how this works!"

Takeru processed all this, his body tensing up as he realized what might be happening here. "Hey, um...you might have the wrong room—"

He held the gun up next to his head. "If you don't want the next one to go a lot closer to where you're standing, you're gonna cut that out. You've been screwing around with The Bosses. Asking around, trying to dig up information, get some dirt?" He gave a little sharp laugh. "The Bosses have been around for decades, kid, before you were born they ruled the world. They don't let people get dirt on them, that's how they stay around. And you're just some kid, you thought you could do it?"

Takeru swallowed down a lump in his throat, nodding quickly. "I...I think I've made a big mistake here."

"Yeah, you're goddamn right you've made a big mistake," he snarled. "Ends right here, yeah?" He waved the gun around up in the air. "This is the shit that happens when you try to mess around with The Bosses. Whatever the hell you think you were gonna get on them was a dead end, they don't leave stuff like that dangling. We understand each other?"

"Y-yeah," Takeru replied. "Totally. I-I'm just some kid screwing around with stuff I don't understand, but it's done, believe me. It's done."

"Uh-huh."

Suddenly, a third unfamiliar man backed into the bathroom from the bedroom entrance, dragging Daisy with him. She was clearly still terrified, shaking and making unpleasant shrieks. Her arms were ziptied behind her back, her ankles similarly bound. Takeru glanced over at her for a moment, confused, then looked back to the man in front of him.

"Alright, hey, look, we've made a big mistake. We're sorry, really, I promise it's over with. I mean, trust me, we've got nothing, it's..."

"We don't believe in verbal warnings," the man interrupted as Takeru trailed off. Daisy was unceremoniously pushed into the ceramic bathtub on the left side of the bathroom. Takeru looked over in confusion, opening his mouth to say something. "They have a way of not getting the message across. That's not the way The Bosses do things. They believe in firm and definitive action when someone crosses them." He pointed up at Takeru's face. "You're Hiroaki's son, so you get to live. But for the rest of your life, you're gonna remember what you lost when you tried to cross The Bosses."

Takeru was slammed with sudden realization as the man who had just put Daisy in the bathtub reached behind the basin and picked up a large red jerry can. On twisting the cap open, the odor of gasoline became all the more apparent. Takeru's eyes widened, and he couldn't quite help himself.

"Wa...wait! WAIT!" Takeru shouted as the man began to dump the contents of the can on Daisy's head, spilling out a clear, strong-smelling liquid into the tub. "You...are you guys fucking NUTS?!"

He thought Ken might have been trying to get his attention out of the corner of his eyes, but he was far too distressed to try to pick up on anything right now. Daisy started to scream and thrash around as she realized what was happening, gurgling underneath the flood of gasoline.

"H-hey!" Takeru said, voice clearly panicked. "Look, you guys have made your point, believe me! Breaking into my room, waving guns around, trust me, I'm already more terrified than I ever have been in my freaking life!" He pointed over at Daisy. "This, there's no point! You're adding risk, that's all it is, you can't honestly—"

"We don't plan on making a second visit to you," the man said simply. "Best way to do that is make sure the first visit sticks. You're getting out of here with your life, that's more than most people who try to take on The Bosses can say. But you're gonna have to find another woman."

The can had been emptied out, leaving Daisy shivering in fright and sputtering, flailing around pitifully.

"T-...She is not just some random person!" Takeru shouted, trying to find something to say of meaning to these people. "She's a celebrity, she's a professional model, professional poker player, daughter of millionaires, if she gets killed, people are going to care! You're just gonna make this whole thing harder for you if you kill her! You do this, there's a massive investigation, a lot of questions, you guys don't want that!" Takeru could feel the cold sweat developing on his arms as the situation escalated.

"Things like that have never mattered to The Bosses," he said. "We've killed more famous people than her before."

Takeru was hoping that maybe the screams might be heard by someone outside the room, but was quickly realizing that even if someone did, anything that could happen would be too late. He glanced back and forth between the five other people in the room total, trying to come up with some sort of plan of attack that wasn't going to be pointless, but this was hardly his area of expertise.

"Come on, please," Takeru implored. "Just...you've made your point, it's over, you don't have to make this so much more complicated!"

The man who had just dumped out the can, however, was pulling out a small red tube, ignoring Takeru's pleas. With a rip at the tip of the tube, it ignited, spewing out a small flame and some sparks.

Takeru was just about to bolt right for him and at least try to prevent this from happening. Even if it ended in him getting shot before doing anything of use, which he was quite sure it would, he wasn't willing to be the guy who just stood there and watched his girlfriend and lifelong friend burn to death. Maybe Ken would do something at the same time. It had to have at least some tiny chance of working.

And just before he charged, everyone was distracted by a sudden clattering. A few circular discs skated along the tiled floor of the bathroom, coming to rest in various spots on the floor. Everything seemed to freeze for a split-second, nobody quite sure what to do.

With a small click, the entire room was filled with a thick white gas. Takeru couldn't see a foot in front of his own face. The substance felt quite cold on his skin.

With adrenaline and reflexes in his favor, Takeru stepped forward and hurled his fist in the area where he remembered his attacker's head was.

OOO

~Hikari~

She had been spending all her time hanging out with three rich, beautiful, brilliant, and successful young adults, so she wasn't ever surprised when people didn't notice her. She didn't mind it, of course. And, right now, she felt downright blessed.

Of course the people breaking into their hotel room would be going after the rich kids, pulling them from their beds. They were the ones that mattered. Why would they think about her? Why would they even bother checking the last bedroom once they had their three targets? Why would they even think about her?

So, as the three strangers had herded her friends into the bathroom, presumably to rob them or even hurt them, nobody went to wake Hikari up as well. Nobody noticed when she awoke, having been through enough in her life to know how to wake up at any sounds of disturbance, and crept out into the living room. She was free to listen to the conversation inside the bathroom as well as try to figure out what she could do.

Unfortunately, for all of her ability to go unnoticed, she didn't really have very much she could do with it.

She stood with her back to the wall right next to the bathroom door, pressing herself up against it tightly to make sure nobody could catch a glimpse of her. Her hands were cupped, filled with a few fire extinguisher discs she had grabbed from one of the kitchen cabinets. Her racing mind had produced this as she poured through all the ways she could do something. It was probably not a particularly good idea. There were no good ideas. There were only ideas that hopefully had a better than zero percent chance of working.

She was not going to charge into the bathroom and suddenly change the circumstances any more than maybe surprising someone. At least this way, she was altering the situation in a significant way. A good way? She could only hope.

As Daisy had been doused in a can of gasoline, she realized that the situation was not going to flatten out on it's own. She considered sitting idle and letting Takeru talk his way out of it, but it was clear that was not happening. Though she was unsure if this wouldn't just make the situation worse, she wasn't going to just stand there and let this happen.

She heard a flare crackle to life, and it had to happen now. She turned into the doorway, tossing the discs across the floor. She had never used them before, but they were simple. Toss them at the base of a fire, and the impact with the ground triggered a plume of coolant that would put the flames out. Hopefully, that plume of coolant would distract people.

Before anyone could see her, she ducked back behind the wall. She felt bad for a moment, feeling like a worthwhile person would also have charged in and helped try to turn the tables on the intruders, but she was just as likely to get in the way as anything else. She curled herself up against the wall, hoping that the discs would at least go off.

A series of clicks sounded, and some of the gas cloud poured out of the door, letting her know that they had gone off. And then, sounds of violence. She winced, squeezing her eyes shut, hoping that the right people were doing the attacking.

A sharp crack and what sounded like the shattering of porcelain made her unconsciously clench up. She heard the bleeping hiss of what seemed to be a gun being fired, making her tie her hands into fists.

More scuffling. Another gunshot. A crashing thud. She had no idea what any of it could mean. Contextless violence, hopefully being done by the right people. Seconds ticked by, the sounds came to a halt. The vapor began to fade away. Hikari was afraid to look inside.

She slowly backed away from the doorway, breathing heavily, sweating nervously, waiting and hoping.

Finally, Takeru stumbled out of the bathroom, emerging from the smoke. Hikari gasped, but quickly allowed herself to be at least a little relieved. Shakily, Takeru leaned up against the wall by the doorway, visibly shaken and panting.

"H...h...holy...shit," he choked out, barely audible and unnaturally high-pitched. Hikari was disturbed by what she saw. Not only was Takeru clearly terrified, a far cry from his typical demeanor, but he seemed so weak and helpless. This felt like a completely different person right now.

"Holy shit," he repeated, slowly looking around the room, as if trying to remember where he was. Finally, he pointed at the final trails of gas floating out of the bathroom door. "Did...did you..."

"Yeah," Hikari said breathlessly, nodding quickly. "Did it...it worked?"

Takeru wiped at his forehead, eyes wide and pupils dilated. "Uh...y-yeah." He waved over towards her. "D-don't look in there, please. It's...it's not good."

"Are you okay?" Hikari asked, leaning in a bit to have a better look at him.

"No," Takeru answered after a beat. "No, I'm...I'm pretty far from okay right now," he admitted, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Ken?" Hikari called out. "Daisy? You...you guys..."

"TK, I need help getting her out of the tub," Ken called out.

"O-okay," Takeru said weakly, face even more pale than was usual. "Sure." He nodded to nobody in particular. "What...what the..." He put his hands up covering his face. "Holy...holy shit...I've never had a cigarette in my life, but I'm—"

"Buddy!" Ken called out sharply. "Come on!"

Takeru sprung up straight. "Yeah." As he turned and re-entered the bathroom, he turned to look at Hikari. "Can you call the authorities, please? Just...just tell them there was a break-in. Call into the front desk, they can handle it."

"Alright," Hikari agreed. She quickly went over towards the counter in the kitchen area.

"And...and thanks a lot," Takeru added. "That was really...really good. You did great."

"Was the best I could come up with," Hikari replied, quickly tapping at a screen built into the counterspace.

"It was great," Takeru added. "Great job, you saved us for sure."

As Hikari maneuvered through the touch screen controls, she kept her ears perked up, listening intently for further conversation from the bathroom.

"So they're...they're dead?" Takeru asked throatily.

"Yeah," Ken replied.

"Holy...holy shit man."

OOO

~Takeru~

"So, we tried to explain to them that...that we don't have...you know, we don't take our poker prize money in cash and just...leave it around our hotel room, but...well, they didn't go for that." Takeru kept reaching up and pushing his fingers through his hair, still visibly shaken and uncomfortable. "They...they kept demanding ridiculous things, and...well, eventually they threatened to...to...immolate, I guess...Daisy if they didn't get what they were asking for."

"Right, and that business happened in the bathtub with the gasoline?" Richard Browning asked, holding a small recording device up by his face.

The main area of the hotel room was heavily illuminated and populated with half a dozen men in uniform. Another half dozen were inside the bathroom. When three dead bodies became part of the equation, everyone had been sent to investigate.

"Yeah, uh...I don't know if they were actually going to do it, but I'm...p-pretty sure they were." He reached up to rub at the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, I hope all this is making sense, I'm...I've never had something like this happen before, I..." he gave a little laugh "...I really don't feel good."

"You're doing great," Browning insisted. "I understand, it's...it's quite an experience to go through. You're fine."

"So, they didn't know Hikari was here, or they forgot, or whatever, and she heard the commotion." Takeru swallowed down a lump. "She tossed a couple of those...fire extinguisher discs in."

"Hikari's the...the girl who was in the bedroom with Daisy just now?" Browning pointed over towards the bedroom door. "Who is she, again?"

"A...she's a friend," Takeru answered. "So, just when they were...I guess going to kill her, the whole room got filled with vapor, and...of course, we have to take the opportunity. I just...we just acted. Ken got one of the guns at one point, and given the circumstances, it was...we couldn't take any chances. So, when the opportunity presented itself, we had to...well..."

"I'm inclined to agree with you. At this point, anyway," Browning said. "I think you'll be okay. Lethal force is warranted in some circumstances, seems like this was one of them."

Takeru nodded. "I...I'm not happy that it happened, but...I just felt like I didn't have a choice. It's just instinct, it's...whoo." He shook his head. "Wow, can't believe this happened. Wow."

"We'll keep checking the room, but...based off what we've seen so far, your actions were justified. That's the best I can say to you right now." He put the device back into his back pants pocket. "Now, you guys might want to get a new room, I'm sure the front desk will be happy to set it up. We've got your story of the events, that's good enough for now. Follow-up questions in the morning after we're done with the investigation."

"Uh...hey, I...just in case this wasn't just some sort of random thing, and...you know, peace of mind, you don't suppose—"

"We'll double security and station men all along the floor, not a problem," Browning assured him. "After something like this, that's a given. If anyone tries to come back tonight, they're gonna run into a lot more than they bargained for."

"Thank you," Takeru said, wiping at his lip. He took in a deep, settling breath. "I'm gonna go call the front desk."

OOO

~Hikari~

"What...what happened?"

Hikari didn't think it was possible. Somehow, via a particularly extreme set of happenings, Daisy Scott was no longer attractive to look at.

It wasn't just the fact that she had been pulled out of bed and doused in gasoline, that almost seemed minor in comparison. She had lost all of her typical composure, stress and fear draining it from her body. She was clearly still very shaken by her near-death experience, pupils dilated and eyes wide, seemingly forever caught in a cycle of wheezing out heavy breaths.

After being pulled from the tub, she had just sat there on the floor, shaking and speechless. Her condition had not improved as Hikari helped wash the gasoline off of her skin, sitting there limply. The authorities had quickly realized she was not yet in a condition to say anything of meaning on the beginning of their visit, and had allowed her to simply remain in the bedroom to try to settle herself.

She hadn't said anything, or done much of anything other than sit there and fight off hyperventilating. Hikari had just sat there with her, happy to let Ken and Takeru explain the situation.

It was an ugly thing, to see a woman so unaccustomed to such things come so close to a horrible death, to become mentally compromised. Despite her obvious beauty, which was still clear despite the circumstances, her mental state made for a disturbing sight. And now, finally, she was talking, after several long minutes of being mute.

"Are...are you okay?" Hikari asked, coming up next to her on the bed and sitting down next to her. "You okay?"

"No," Daisy answered, sounding almost indignant through the neurotic tone she possessed.

Hikari blinked a few times. "I...I should stop asking that question," she muttered to herself. "Uh...uh—"

"How am I still alive?" Daisy asked, sounding genuinely confused. "What, how did..." She looked around the darkened bedroom, as if looking at it for the first time.

"I, uh...I tossed a few fire extinguishers into the room," Hikari explained quickly. "Takeru and Ken used the distraction to...uh...you know."

Daisy slowly reached a shaking hand up to her face, wiping at her eyes. "They...wait...you don't mean they..."

"Yeah, they...well, those guys who broke in, they're...they're dead," Hikari said, grimacing. "Uh, sorry, maybe I shouldn't have just come out with that."

"Ken and TK...killed someone?" Daisy said, sounding slightly phased out as she continued to rub at her eyes. "Oh...holy crap...what the hell have we gotten ourselves into?"

Hikari inhaled deeply. "Do you want anything? Food or anything?"

Daisy groaned loudly. "What the...how in the hell did we...God." Failing to complete any particular thought, she settled for trailing off into another sentence. "I thought it was a done deal. Wow, I...I've never had...had that kind of thing happen to me. Holy shit." She sounded exhausted and worn, while still managing clear neurosis in her tone. "I...wow."

Hikari didn't know what to say. Likely, there was nothing to say. Daisy suddenly extended her right arm out weakly and wrapped it around Hikari's shoulders, pulling her closer.

"Would have been a done deal if it wasn't for you," Daisy said quietly. "I'd be dead if you didn't pull that. That's unbelievable." She glanced down at her. "L-look at you, you're...God, I'm so pathetic." She reached up to wipe underneath her eyes. "I couldn't even talk for like half an hour, I couldn't do anything but flail around and scream, and you're...look at you. So composed, you look...wow, why can't I be like you?"

Hikari jerked her head a fraction of an inch away from Daisy, almost taken aback. "Well, I...I didn't have a gallon of gasoline dumped on my head," Hikari pointed out. "That helps."

Daisy gave a tiny smile. "No. That's not it. Wow, taking all this stress like a...like a champ. I wish I was like you."

"It's not...not really comparable," Hikari insisted. "Uh, you...you're gonna be okay," she continued. Daisy gave off a strangled little groan. "I can, I can tell, the way you're talking, you're gonna be fine."

She sighed. "Hikari. What are we gonna do?"

Hikari couldn't come up with any good response, so she simply sat there in silence.

OOO

~Takeru~

"I don't think it's anything serious, but we should be careful. Up the security on The Mecca, be sure that mom and Yamato are being protected when they go out, be careful with who you let into the top floor."

Takeru paced around the main room of the new hotel room, Ken, Daisy and Hikari sitting around, uneasily looking around at each other. Takeru was holding his personal assistant up to his ear.

"No, I can't," Takeru insisted. "There are things I have to do, I can't come home right now."

Ken bit down on his lower lip, twisting his head to look over at his friend.

"I can't," Takeru repeated. "I understand, but that's not something I can do right now. I'm fine, it's probably just an isolated incident, a few crazy people, but just in case they're targetting the family, I just want you guys to be careful."

"Yeah, this is gonna make this situation better," Ken grumbled. "This is gonna go great."

"I can't." Takeru sighed. "Look, I'll talk to you soon, I have to go." He ended the connection.

"You know, you could," Ken said. "Maybe you should. It can at least be reasonably argued that you should."

"You think I don't want to?" Takeru said, still a slight manic undertone in his voice. "But what am I gonna do? Go home and spend the rest of my life inside the panic room at The Mecca?"

"It's probably safer there than...than out here," Ken said, standing up. "Come on, man, this isn't...we can't do this. This kind of stuff, way above our heads." He shrugged. "I...I wouldn't mind just going home, telling people the truth, and...and hope we can find some kind of reset button."

Takeru rattled out a sigh and put his hands up behind his head. "There's no reset button." He pointed over at Daisy. "They sent people here tonight to kill someone, we ended up killing three of theirs instead, that's...they don't just, they're not just gonna shrug their shoulders and say that they're happy with just scaring us." He again wiped at his face again, clearly labored. "I already thought about all this."

Ken, visibly annoyed, fought not to roll his eyes. "Okay, so...we just stay out here? Make it easy as possible for them to retaliate? Think it through, I'm not seeing anything good."

Takeru winced. "I...I can't go home. I go home, I'm just gonna end up trying to hide for the rest of my life, it's...it's too late."

"Buddy, this isn't...this isn't something that we can do anything with. This isn't us." Ken looked slightly incredulous. "We can't just...we can't just play back at something like this. You realize that, right?"

"I...look, it's late, I don't want to get into the finer points too much, but...there's no going back on this. I...I have to find a way to finish this, it's the only way."

"That's not a way!" Ken snapped. "We're in way above our heads! There's nothing more we can do! We took a shot, and by the way, I can only assume that whatever we thought we had is a dead end, and it's over now. That's it." Ken stared Takeru down. "We tried. We probably shouldn't have, and now we're here. We just have to...tell people what happened and hope it works out."

Takeru pushed out a large breath. "Look, this is my thing, I understand that you guys...this doesn't have anything to do with you guys." He pointed over at Daisy. "What happened tonight was because of me and what I'm doing, it...you were just there. You fly home as soon as possible, take as long as you need to recover. If you're not with me right now, maybe they'll just forget about you and let it be."

Daisy still looked rather sickly and weak, but slowly nodded. "Yeah, I...I think I need to go home for awhile." She shrugged. "I don't know how safe I feel though." She gave a shuddering breath.

"Tell your mother that...you don't feel safe and you want increased security, I'm sure she won't hesitate to do it," Takeru continued. "Ken, you too, we can...we can separate, they'll probably just assume you're the guy who's traveling with me and you don't have anything to do with this. Hikari, you can go back to The Mecca, spend time with your brother. And...I'm gonna try to figure this out on my own."

"You can't be serious," Ken said, almost scoldingly. "What are you going to figure out?"

"I don't know!" Takeru conceded. "But if I don't, me, my entire family, The Mecca, the whole thing could collapse! I can't just knock the whole thing over then go stick my head in the ground and hope things are okay! Either I'm...I'm going to figure a way out of this or I'm not, but...it's just those two options. Getting out of this means I come up with a solution to play back at these guys. The only way up is down. There's no retreating."

Ken gave a heavy sigh, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "TK, if...you know I can't go home if you're not, I...I'm going to just leave you behind to end up dead? That's not something I can do, if...if you can't be convinced to go home, I'm stuck with you."

"Hey, I screwed up," Takeru conceded. "I screwed up big, and I got all of us into a situation we're completely unprepared for, I miscalculating things badly, and that's on me, and it's all because of something that I wanted to do. Now, the least I can do is make sure that I'm the only one who suffers for it." He gestured towards Ken. "You clearly don't want any more of this, I can tell, and I don't blame you at all."

"Of course I don't," Ken growled. "But you're not going to be able to do anything on your own. You probably can't do anything with me, but I can't just leave!" He scoffed. "What, I see on the news in a couple weeks that you turned up dead, that's not gonna haunt me for the rest of my life?"

"I'm not going anywhere either," Hikari chimed in, seated backwards on a spinning chair in the middle of the room. "Not a chance."

Takeru shook his head back and forth. "Guys, tonight...tonight changed things. I don't want you guys risking your lives for me. If anyone is going to lose their life over this, it should be me." He put his hands up behind his head again. "Today, I nearly had to watch Daisy die because of...of something I was doing, I'm...I'm not letting that happen again."

"You need me," Hikari said simply. "Look what happened tonight. I'm not leaving now. If it can change things even...one percent, I have to stay."

Finally, after a few seconds, Takeru sighed and nodded. Sitting down heavily on the middle of the couch. "Alright." He looked over at Daisy. "You take as long as you need and do whatever you need to do back home, um...tonight...I'm so sorry, I didn't think this...I didn't think this could happen."

"I wish you'd go home too," Daisy said, voice sounding a tiny bit far-away, her eyes still giving off a slightly glazed stare. Clearly, the events of the night had robbed her of a good part of her personality. "At least you...at least you might be safe."

"I want to, but...I can't. Alright, it's...it's late," Takeru said, rocketing up to his feet again, feeling nervous energy overtaking him while still being exhausted. "I...we'll talk more tomorrow, Ken, I...we have to figure something out, that's all it is. I...I have a final table in the morning anyway, I need to try to sleep."

"You can't be serious," Hikari said, raising an eyebrow over at Takeru.

"Very," Takeru responded. "One of the safest places for us to be right now, actually. Casinos have hundreds of thousands of dollars flying around. There's security, armed guards, cameras, scans...especially inside a final table room. Pretty secure. I'll call ahead, tell them that I'm feeling uneasy after tonight, and want extra security just in case. They get stuff like that all the time, they provide for that."

"Do you really think you'll be able to play in...what, six hours?" Ken asked.

Takeru shrugged. "No idea, but...I'm there, right?" He pointed his thumb towards the front door of the room behind him. "In the morning, if nothing happens, our extra security is leaving, not much I can say to make them stay. If we're going to be somewhere, it may as well be inside a casino in a room where several million dollars is about to be distributed."

Ken furrowed his brow for a moment. "Actually, makes sense. Yeah, it's actually the best way." He ran his right hand over his face. "Sorry I got testy there."

"You have every right to be upset," Takeru acknowledged. "I'm upset at myself, it's...only survival instinct is keeping me going as much as I am."

Ken groaned. "I just...I had to kill people, you know?" He gave Takeru a small glance. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not...shedding a tear for them, it had to happen, but...killing someone wasn't exactly on my bucket list. Was going to try to avoid situations where that might happen, and...it's not a good feeling."

"Okay, I'll...we'll talk it through tomorrow," Takeru said. "Daisy, you...whatever you need to do, just...I'm so sorry."

Daisy nodded. "Yeah."

OOO

~Hikari~

"I'm not leaving you no matter what happens," Hikari affirmed, straightening out the comforter atop the bed. Takeru was seated up on the bed, back resting against the headrest, head leaned back against the wall. His hand was covering his mouth, in some form of silent contemplation. "Whatever situation you get into, I'm...I'm part of it. That's how this works."

Takeru didn't respond. He had been quite silent since retiring to the bedroom, clearly drained by the events of the night.

"Um...maybe I shouldn't be talking about something like this right now, but...if it comes to it, and I guess it could...I'll...I can take a bullet for you. I think that's just the way it should be." Hikari went over by the head of the bed, crossing her arms over her chest. "If something like that came up, I think that's just...part of the job. But if it ended up making a difference and...you got out, just take care of my brother. It'll crush him, he'll be upset that I did it, but...I think after all we've done, I have to do it."

Takeru's hand moved up slightly to cover the upper half of his face. He gave a loud sigh, slowly slipping his body down so he was laying down now, only his head propped up against the pillow.

"Uh...hey, we're gonna figure something out," Hikari said.

"You know, I really...I just felt like...I've been running so good lately, I just thought...things would work out. Of course, I mean...I'm doing really well at a game, of course I'm just gonna...do whatever I want and it's gonna go well for me. I felt...I felt invincible."

Hikari bit her lip for a moment, thinking. "We...we all make mistakes."

Takeru gave a little dry laugh. "Wh...what am I doing? What the hell am I even doing?" He sniffled a couple times. "What. The hell. Am I even thinking about doing this? What was I thinking, it's so...so stupid." He breathed out heavily again. "I had such a good life, things were so good, and...what's wrong with me?"

"You were trying to do something good," Hikari said, trying to sound comforting. "You had good intention?"

"What good is that?" Takeru groaned, eyes starting to shimmer a bit, shaking a little bit now. "What made me think that this was something that I could ever do? What made me think this was a good idea? If I took...two minutes to think things through, of course, it's obviously just..." he sighed.

Hikari glanced around awkwardly, then slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'm...I understand why you felt like you had to do it."

"M-my girlfriend almost died for it," Takeru continued, voice cracking a bit. "It'd be one thing if it was me, but...but Daisy almost died because I was dumb enough to...to stick my nose into something like this." He looked around the room for a moment, looking almost like he was in disbelief. "The hell is wrong with me? What's so bad about my life that I felt like I had to do something like this to make things better?"

With a trepidatious look, Hikari slowly leaned back into a laying position beside Takeru. "It'll...we'll figure something out."

"I'm supposed to be smarter than this," he said. "I...I can't believe I couldn't see something like this coming, it's almost obvious. And I pulled other people into it too, I'm...I'm such a screwup."

Hikari could only grimace as Takeru started to shed a couple small tears.

"I'm...I'm so stupid, and...who knows how much stuff I've already ruined."

Hikari slowly placed her left hand on his chest, rubbing it back and forth slowly. Further words of comfort escaped her, so she just laid there, up close by his side.

"I...I don't know what I'm gonna do," Takeru said weakly. "I have...I have no plan for this, I...I don't know what I'm gonna do. I'm so screwed. This is so screwed."

Takeru slowly slid back so he was looking straight up at the ceiling, a quivering lip as he tried to maintain a degree of dignity in his mild breakdown. Hikari, unsure of what else to do, continued to lay there, slowly wrapping her arms around him, trying to provide some level of small comfort. 


	43. Spewing

Chapter 43: Spewing

Takeru rattled out a loud, sharp breath. "Having trouble putting you on a hand," he muttered, giving a slightly nervous smile.

"It's not often lately that we've seen Takeru Ishida be unsure of himself in spots like this, but that clearly seems to be the case."

"Yeah, he's giving away quite a bit, actually. Maybe it's not that big a deal, but...after the way he's acting and talking, it's not like he can credibly raise as a bluff. He might just be thinking that's never going to be his action, but...at least leave the possibility open, maybe."

"Alright, if that's a bluff, that's a pretty insane one," Takeru said, sliding his cards over to the dealer. "Take it down, Robert."

"And Takeru lets it go. Is it possible he's a bit shaken from last night? Of course, for the viewers out there who didn't hear, Takeru's hotel room was broken into last night by a group of people who attempted to rob him. The situation escalated quite a bit, resulted in some extreme violence, he and his friends ended up having to kill the intruders. Very tragic stuff, obviously. It can certainly have an effect on a person."

"Well, sure, how can it not, but then again...we're down to three players, so the kid's doing something right. Give him some credit for working through it, making it this far in this final table."

A new hand was pushed out to each player.

"Eight hundred and ninety-nine players started in this event a few days ago, we're all the way down to three. For the viewers just joining us, we'll fill you in."

"Wait, wait," Robert Costa said suddenly. "I'm supposed to be the button, misdeal," he said, pointing over towards the white button in front of Tom Bonomo. "I'm the button this hand."

"Sorry, guys," the dealer said, taking the cards back from the players. "Sorry about that."

"This is one of the toughest tournaments in the world, it's a ten thousand dollar buyin six-max tournament, which means that tables are six handed instead of nine handed. That makes things very interesting and very tough on everyone, only the elite players dare to try their hand in a tournament like this. Robert Costa is our chip leader, he has over half the chips in play, twenty-three point seven million, or seventy-nine big blinds. Takeru Ishida is in a distant second, he's got eleven point seven million, thirty-nine big blinds. And Tom Bonomo's got eight point seven million, twenty-nine bigs."

With the newly corrected button, Robert was dealt two cards, and looked down at the queen of clubs and queen of diamonds.

"Well, there's some more good news for our chip leader. Costa wakes up with queens on the button, beautiful. Anyway, third place will pick up six hundred and eighty-seven thousand dollars, second place gets nearly one point one million, and the grand prize is nearly one point nine million, as well as the status of being a Sienna Poker Tour champion."

Costa looked over at Tom in the small blind, slowly considering his options.

"You know, it's one of those interesting things, where...Costa's the guy who you would probably have kind of dismissed in this three-way. I mean, clearly, right now Takeru Ishida is on the top of the world, he's been clearly the best tournament player in the world over the last six months. Bonomo's, he's been fantastic as well, I think his results over the last half year are clearly...top fifteen, top twenty on the planet. Robert, clearly a very good player, he doesn't have nearly the resume."

Costa put out three striped yellow and black chips.

"Big blind is three hundred thousand, that's a raise to seven-fifty, so two and a half times...yeah, he's just running well and making a lot of good decisions. But yeah, if you're Takeru or Tom right now, you just want to get heads up against Costa. Even if Costa is a massive chip leader, you have to believe you're a considerably better player than Costa and can beat him a huge percentage of the time—"

Bonomo had a glance down at the nine of spades and nine of hearts.

"Oh man, look at this. What a cooler. Tom's got two nines in the small blind. What a cooler."

Tom looked over his stack, counting how many black and yellow chips he still had.

"Yeah, this is...it's really obvious where this is going. Really bad luck for Tom, and Takeru's going to be really happy after this."

"Maybe not thrilled, Robert's going to have a large chip lead, but...being heads up against a player that you're clearly better than is pretty good. Yeah, no way Tom gets away from this, right? I mean, he's re-raising here to...probably two million, Costa's probably shoving, and Tom's gonna be happy to call it off with two nines, right?"

"Yeah, he...this is getting in preflop for sure. In fact, there's a chance he might just get it over with right here. Robert's raising most of his buttons with any cards, no way he gives him credit for any kind of big hand right now."

"I'm all-in," Tom said quietly.

"Yeah, there it is, Tom shoves, and he's in hot water now. Two outs with five cards to come. Do you like shoving twenty-eight big blinds there?"

"There are reasons why it's good and reasons why it's better to just make a normal raise, but...ultimately they were getting it in no matter what, so it doesn't matter."

Takeru slowly pried up his cards. Six of spades and six of diamonds.

"Oh...Takeru's got sixes in the big blind."

Takeru placed his elbow on the edge of the table, resting his chin atop his fist.

"Didn't snap-fold, so he's clearly at least thinking about this, is there...is there a decision here?"

"Heh, I think he's probably...he's probably just annoyed that the action went the way it did. Pocket sixes is a great hand to raise all-in with when you're three-handed, like, you're happy to shove over the top of a raise, but it's a bad hand to call an all-in with."

Takeru stared over towards Tom intently.

"Clearly he's folding, I think it's a clear fold, and he's just annoyed he picked up a good hand and can't do anything with it. That's kind of how I feel."

Takeru slowly looked back down at his hand.

"Yeah, if Tom had raised to...two million, Takeru would probably just rip all-in himself to capture fold equity, and he's irritated that he can't do that now, but...after he folds and he sees these two hands he would have been up against, he's going to feel relieved that it went the way that it did."

"Yeah, if Tom just makes a standard re-raise, then...it kind of goes the other way. Takeru would shove, Robert would re-shove, and Tom could probably fold because of the payjumps. Now Takeru's the one who can just get out the way and let the other shorter stack go out."

Takeru grimaced, glancing behind him towards the railing, back at Ken and Hikari, raising an eyebrow over at them and giving them a bit of a strained smile.

"Okay, he's clearly considering this, so...what's the argument for going with this hand?"

"I guess...Robert rarely has something he could call with, he's opening almost all of his buttons. Almost always he's just folding, so...I guess you're just thinking about the hands Tom might be ripping twenty-eight blinds with, and how good is pocket sixes looking against those hands."

"Yeah, that's a big problem, Takeru might not even be thinking about Robert having a monster. What sorts of hands does Tom have when he shoves for this much?"

"He has like...all pairs between deuces and tens, I'm guessing. Some ace high hands that sixes is flipping against. Ace jack, ace ten, stuff like that. I guess sixes is doing okay against those hands, but not really...not really good. I'm surprised he hasn't folded yet, really, this seems like a mandatory fold."

Takeru rubbed at his upper lip.

"If nothing else, the money jumps are a reason to fold, it's just...you don't want to get your chips in when you're crushed right now. Hundreds of thousands of dollars ride on doing the right thing here, just...hey, sometimes, Robert has a hand good enough to call with, and sometimes Tom gets knocked out, and then you get to make nearly half a million dollars by just folding. That's pretty good, and then you're heads up against a player who you can outplay."

"That line of thinking might be part of the problem, he really wants to eliminate Tom here, and he might be thinking that sixes is good enough to do that some of the time. I still think you gotta just get out of the way. I mean, hey, he'll feel like a genius."

"I'm all-in," Takeru said.

"WHOOOA! Takeru just moved in!"

"Call," Robert said quickly, turning over his queens. Takeru gave a mildly disgusted look, wincing, almost embarrassed to turn over his hand. Tom was equally distressed as he tabled his cards.

"Wow, I...I really don't like that from Takeru. Wow, I'm...I'm shocked. What just happened?"

Takeru stood up and slowly made his way back towards his friends, grimacing, visibly frustrated.

"Yeah, if you look at him right now, he knows...he knows that was a mistake, he's not happy with himself right now. He got way too caught up in a few angles of the situation and ignored some of the others, I think. He just wanted a chance to eliminate Tom, he...tunnel vision, I think."

"If...If Tom had made a normal-sized raise, then it's totally different, I agree, but...to over-shove when someone's already all-in, it's almost like...it feels like he called trying to get lucky. Like, I have a pair, I hope this works out, I call."

"Takeru's the last person in the world who should be doing things trying to get lucky, that's...he doesn't need that, clearly. I don't get it, it's very...optimistic to re-shove there. Overly optimistic."

Ken and Hikari both patted him on the shoulders as he turned back towards the table.

"And Tom, he's not thrilled either, obviously, it's a pretty big cooler for him. Pretty frustrating to get in this kind of spot and get coolered like this. And Robert, wow, if his...all he needs is for his sixty-six percent hand to hold up, and he wins a Sienna Poker Tour event against two of the best in the world. What a spot."

The dealer slowly put out the flop. Seven of spades, queen of hearts, queen of spades.

"OH My...quads! He's flopped quads!"

Robert threw his hands up in the air, then turned around and ran over to the railing, amid the cheers of his friends and family.

"Wow, Robert Costa...flops quad queens, and this tournament is over! This is the last hand of the tournament, Costa has got it locked up, these turn and river cards do not matter! What a...what a feeling it has to be, flopping quads after being such a huge favorite anyway!"

Takeru gave a small little nod, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What a way to end this tournament, talk about...no sweat at all, just, flop both of them completely dead. Takeru will finish in second, he started with more chips than Tom on that last hand, so Tom's got third. But still, both of those guys can't feel too great about things right now."

"Yeah, Tom...it's arguable that Tom made a mistake by ripping, it's at least...it's at least arguable. Takeru definitely made a mistake, and he knows it, both of those guys really wish they played the hand a little more standard, probably."

"Hey, good playing with you," Tom said, going over to Takeru and putting his hand up. Takeru took it. "You doing okay after last night?"

Takeru shrugged. "Hey, it...it happens, I'm still alive."

"I guess that could be part of it, just...you almost hate to make that kind of excuse after he played well throughout this final table, but...it seems like such an obvious mistake, could last night have had some sort of effect on his play?"

"We can't rule anything out, it...it shouldn't be ignored. But let's talk about Costa, he...he's an SPT champion now! This is by far the biggest score of his poker career! What a moment!"

"Restaurant?" Ken asked, tapping Takeru on the shoulder. Takeru nodded.

OOO

~Takeru~

"What the hell was that?" Takeru muttered to himself, rubbing at his eyes. "I overshove with sixes, what the...wow. Sammy's father is rolling over in his grave right now."

"Do you know something we don't?" Ken said wryly. "Sammy seemed awful chill for someone who just had his father die."

"Yeah...right, yeah, he's...my bad," Takeru grunted.

Public places were probably best for the group right now, so the three had immediately gone to the casino's main restaurant, taking a small circular table in the middle of the main area. The place was sufficiently packed with people, a dozen different conversations flittering around in the air, everything mixing together.

"So bad," Takeru muttered. "God damn."

"Hey, it's not...it's not the worst play I've ever seen in my life." Ken shoved a breaded shrimp into his mouth.

"It's probably pretty high on the list," Takeru countered. "I mean...if I just fold, I...he's got a three to one chip lead on me, like...a hundred blinds or something, that's...that's one all-in and we're even again!" He rolled his eyes. "Wow, give me a three to one deficit against him any day, what am I doing?"

"It's an awkward spot," Hikari said quietly, ducking her head down a bit towards the middle of the table. "It...it gives you a decent chance of becoming the chip leader if Robert doesn't call."

Takeru snorted. "Ugh. So bad. I'm better than this."

"Maybe you can just...chalk this one up to you having more important things on your mind right now," Ken suggested. "Because you do."

Takeru sighed. "Yeah, so...okay." He thought for a moment. "I mean, seven figure cash, how bad can I feel?"

"Anyway...what are we doing?" Ken asked. "I have nothing, and I've tried to think it through."

Takeru shrugged. "Right now, I've got nothing too, I...I figure..." he trailed off, reaching up to rub the spot between his eyes. "Public places, spend lots of time in there, inside casinos especially. Harder to get to us, I think."

"If they really want to, they'll find a way, but...sure," Ken agreed. "Public places, guarded places..." he thought for a moment, putting his hands together and placing them in front of his mouth. "I mean, we could...maybe we should start checking into hotel rooms under fake names?"

Takeru scratched at his temple. "I mean, how much of a difference can it make?" he asked. "Better than nothing, but...everyone knows who we are, people recognize us. Do we just...like, change how we look?"

Ken shrugged. "Not the worst idea. Like...we show up to the casino in the morning, we're big time celebrities, whatever, we're well protected...and if they're able to poison our meals or something, what can we do? And then, when we leave, we...just become anonymous. It can't hurt."

"We stay on the move?" Takeru asked. "Like...just, city to city? Can only help, right?"

"Okay, forget...forget that kind of stuff for a moment," Ken said. "How do we get this to end? Do you have...even a tiny seed of an idea? Because, I gotta tell you, I don't. It's very thin right now."

Takeru bent his head down for a few seconds. "Yeah, I...God damn, this guy, he's involved in everything and we know it! How can there just be nothing out there we can use? It seems impossible."

"That's what makes it so tough," Ken replied. "That's how these people stay around for so long. There are people who have tried really hard to bring people like this down, and they've had...a lot more resources than we do. We're just a couple kids, buddy." He shrugged. "And now they know about us, might be going after us, this is...I don't know what to do with all that."

Takeru scratched the back of his head. "Holy hell. What the hell have I done? When you really itemize everything, this is...wow, really bad. This is like putting forty percent of your stack in with top pair and then getting shoved on." He rubbed at his eyes. "No plan...everything you do just kind of sucks...you just hate yourself for doing something without knowing what you'd do if the worst happened."

"There's no way you can...predict something like this can happen," Hikari said quietly, glancing around the restaurant furtively.

"Maybe I should have," Takeru countered. "I don't know, thinking about it...the people I was trying to step on. No joke." He grimaced. "Wow, I can't even come close to coming up with a good idea, this is bad."

"Okay, okay," Ken said, clearly a bit agitated. "Let's just...try to stay alive for a little bit, let's take it one step at a time. So, spend a lot of time in casinos, maybe try to drop off the radar a bit when we leave. I'd still like to stay at a...major hotel still. Better security, anything that happens there is more noticable, just...God, does anything even make a difference?" Ken pushed his hands through his hair, leaning back and looking around the room.

Takeru pointed over towards Hikari. "What if...you know, people don't necessarily recognize her on sight. She could buy us...clothes, the kind of clothes that we don't usually wear. So we leave the casinos at night, and we...try to become anonymous, take public transportation to the hotel, fake names...maybe it can only help a little bit, but...why not, right?"

"Put your jet into storage for awhile," Ken added. "It's associated with you, that's...that'd almost be too easy. We can use public transportation to leave the country too." He nodded. "Yeah, I think we should just keep moving. Yeah, we should be able to stay alive." He pointed over at Takeru. "But we need an endgame, because I'm not doing this for the rest of my life."

Takeru nodded. "There's got to be something out there. You can't do all the things this guy is doing without leaving something out there."

"Heh," Hikari muttered to herself. "I told my brother that there wasn't any danger in what I was doing. So much for that."

Takeru gave a weary nod. "Yeah."

"I'm still not leaving," Hikari said quickly. "Just...just observing."

OOO

~Hikari~

"Like, I get the payjumps might not mean that much to you," Robert Brewster continued, adjusting his stacks of multi-colored chips around in front of him on the felt. "Still, I was...pretty shocked. Basically calling it off with sixes. Surprising."

Takeru gave a little grunt. "The payjumps do mean plenty to me, I just...I might have overplayed things a little bit."

Hikari reached down and rubbed Takeru's back, silenting supporting him as he tossed a pair of black chips into the pot.

"Like, just honestly curious, with you being...well, you, what was running through your mind when you were tanking with the sixes?" Robert asked. "Just, it's not every day you sit down to play a live cash game and end up at the same table with someone as good as you, I just kinda wanna know...what's the thought process?"

Takeru rubbed at his forehead. "Okay, I...I thought that Tom's range when he shoves thirty blinds in that spot is pretty face up, and...pocket sixes is doing okay against that range. And if I move in and win, I've got...I'm heads up against someone I feel like I can outplay him with roughly equal stacks. I'm not even thinking about Costa actually having a premium hand there, it's just...I probably made a mistake. But most of the time, if I fold, Costa folds too, and then I'm just wondering...I might have missed an opportunity." Takeru, clearly getting a little agitated, pointed over towards Robert. "It's on you, by the way."

"O-oh, my bad," Robert said, quickly whisking his cards over towards the dealer.

Takeru took in a small pot of chips, lazily beginning to stack them.

"I mean, that's a pretty interesting way of looking at it," Robert continued to muse. "I guess it's...it's hard to make a pair, right? That's what some people say, it's...it's hard to have a pair."

"What are you even doing here?" Lindsay Peet from seat eight asked. "I mean, ten-twenty cash game against a bunch of amateurs? Seems a little beneath you, you're a...you're a big time professional."

Takeru gave a tiny, wan smile. "Hey, a big part of being a professional is that you can beat amateurs. There's an ecosystem in poker. If all I ever did was play professionals, I'm not fully leveraging my talents."

A new hand was whisked out to each player.

"I hear you say that, I know what it means, but...I just can't help myself, you know?" Robert mused. "I'm the fish, but I'm okay with that, how often do you get to play with the best in the world?"

"Besides, sometimes you just want to kill time with some low-stress play," Takeru added, looking down at his cards before tossing them over to the muck. "Can't win much, can't lose much...it's nice. Helps take the edge off."

Holding a tall, thin glass, Ken took his seat across the table from Takeru. "Alright, I'll post next hand."

"You're not having, like...bankroll problems, are ya?" Lindsay inquired. "That'd be pretty weird, you're not...not in some kind of heavy debt or anything, right?"

Takeru rolled his eyes. "No, I...my bankroll situation is quite good, thank you. Just...trying to kill time."

"What you got?" Robert asked. "Just, you know, there are a lot of rumors out there, wouldn't mind...getting an actual number from the man himself. What's a twenty-year-old prodigy's bankroll look like?"

Takeru, elbow propped up on the edge of the table and head resting in his palm, gave Robert a bored look. "I mean, if someone really cared, they could just look at my results lately and do the math." He blinked a few times. "I guess...eighteen, nineteen million? Not that hard to figure out."

"That's pretty freaking sweet," Lindsay replied. "Nineteen million dollar bankroll, and you're just pissing around on a ten twenty table. I guess we should feel honored."

Takeru squinted down for a moment. "Yeah, it's...it's a lot of money." He glanced over his shoulder. "Yeah, it's...I don't have much to worry about." He turned back to look at the empty chair to his immediate left. "In fact, you know what...Hikari, sit down here." He looked up at the dealer. "Get her five grand, I'm staking it, put it on mine."

Hikari flinched slightly. "Really?"

"Yeah, I got...what the hell do I care?" Takeru shrugged as the dealer began to remove stacks of chips from a tray in front of her and push them in front of the empty chair to Takeru's left. "What's five grand? With the stunt you pulled last night, saving Daisy's life, why not?" He gave a quick glance around the room. "Yeah, I got a...I got a nineteen million dollar bankroll, I can do whatever I want!" His voice dropped slightly as Hikari slid into the chair. "Besides...the way things are going, who knows if I'll be alive to use much of that bankroll."

As she sat down, he reached over and rubbed his palm across her back.

"Just try to have fun," he said.

OOO

Takeru continued to rub his hand along her back. "Thanks for all the help today, really."

The hotel room was a far cry from the rooms she had come to know in recent days. It was a room built for necessity, everything existing because it needed to. In a way, she found the smaller amount of space created a more cozy environment that she had appreciation for.

"I'm here to help you," Hikari pointed out. "That's my purpose in life right now, technically. Do whatever you want me to do."

Takeru had managed to fit himself into a pair of faded jeans and a white tanktop shirt, so far away from anything else he had ever worn, it was almost comical to look at.

"Oh. What are we gonna do, Hikari?" Takeru groaned, throwing himself back on the bed heavily. "I feel like Ken thinks I...I owe him a solution, I can tell the way he looks at me. And I do, I...I'm the one who should be able to come up with something! Ken's gone out of his way to try to help me with this, I've got him in the line of fire, I should at least be able to find something that has a chance."

"I'm sure we'll come up with something," Hikari said comfortingly. "Let's just make sure we can stay alive for awhile, like Ken said."

"I wonder if all this is even worth the effort," Takeru said, looking down at his outfit. "Wow, look at me, is this...can it even make a difference? These people who are after us, they're so...they've got so many resources, they might just be laughing at us."

The two just sat in silence for several long seconds, Takeru thinking things over.

"I could just...man, what if I just threw myself out the window?" Takeru looked over towards the bedroom door. "You know, just...it's what, seven stories to the ground?"

"Stop that," Hikari chided. "You're not gonna do that, we all know it."

"Think about it, though," Takeru suggested. "Think about how the world would remember me if I did. Like, here's this good-looking, smart kid, he's got a rich family, he's just had the most amazing start to a professional poker career in the history of the world, making millions, has the respect of the entire planet, supermodel girlfriend...and he just threw himself out of his hotel room window one day." He shrugged. "Nobody knows why he did it, nobody can even fathom it, it's so...strange. Think about that."

"I don't want to," Hikari said. "You shouldn't either."

"People would wonder for centuries, what happened with that kid? He had such a great future ahead of him, he had everything you could want, what...what caused him to just want to end it?" He pointed over towards Hikari. "That would be memorable, you know? I'd be remembered forever."

"You know what would also get you remembered forever?" Hikari countered. "Taking on The Bosses, and winning. That's something that'll get them talking about you forever. So why don't you think about how you're gonna do that?"

Takeru pointed up towards the ceiling fan, spinning lazily right beneath the ceiling, rocking back and forth slightly in it's housing. "I don't know if I've ever spent the night in a room with one of those," he muttered. "I'm used to the fans being...inside vents. They're silent too, that's...that's actually kinda scary. Like, it's coming down to get you or something." He looked over at Hikari. "I dunno, I think it looks kind of weird."

"Alright, you just...try getting to sleep," Hikari offered. "And seriously. However bad this situation is, think about how good you could come out of it."

"My dad called me like eight times today," Takeru added. "So there's that too, although...ah, I don't wanna say it feels minor, but...I guess it kinda is, compared to this." He lifted his head up a bit. "Say, could you...can you stay the night in here? Just, you know, stay with me?"

Hikari gave a little snort. "You scared the dark now? Scared the ceiling fan's gonna come down and get you?"

"Not used to sleeping alone, actually," Takeru said quietly. "Seems like a little thing, but...feels weird being alone in the bedroom to me. I'd feel better if you were here."

"Yeah, I suppose I should anyway," Hikari admitted. "You need me close by, clearly."

"You know what, you're right," Takeru said, voice a little more full suddenly. "I'm gonna...I can figure this out. That's how I'm gonna be remembered. The world, they're gonna remember me for the time I got myself neck-deep in with the mob, and somehow lived to tell the tale. There has to be an answer, and I'm gonna find it, and when it's over, I'm gonna...well, shit. Coming out of this in one piece, that's...that'd be more incredible than anything else I've done."

"You'll do it," she assured him. "Can't be any harder than winning four bracelets in two months." 


	44. Interesting Turn

Chapter 44: Interesting Turn

"This is a pretty star-studded table, as far as early-tournament tables go. Brandon Winston, a two-time world series bracelet winner, he's a very capable player, certainly one of the sharks. You definitely have a couple rank amateurs here, but all around, this is a pretty good table."

Winston slowly had a look down at the king of diamonds and queen of spades, then dropped a chip on top of the two cards. After a few moments, he put out two red chips and two green chips.

"Those reds are worth one hundred each, the greens are twenty-five, that is a raise to two hundred and fifty from Winston with the king queen. Cris Anderson folds the button, and now we've got Takeru Ishida in the small blind."

Takeru, absentmindedly flicking the end of his purple tie around, looked down at the jack of hearts and ten of spades.

"Here's another shark for certain, Takeru Ishida, offsuit jack ten. With his recent results, this tournament probably feels downright recreational for him."

Takeru tossed out a pair of red chips.

"That's a call."

"Yeah, it's almost...just for reference, Takeru Ishida played in a quarter million dollar Super High Roller a few weeks ago, and owned one hundred percent of his action. Maybe that's not the smartest idea in the world, even Perry Iverson sells some of his action, but...how do you go from that kind of tournament to a three thousand dollar one?"

Michelle Leroy looked at a couple of red fives, quickly tossing out a couple of chips to join the fray as well.

"Well, he's young right now, he probably just wants to play in as many tournaments he can, and tournaments like this...yeah, the fields are massive, the buyins are low, they're more meant for the players who don't have a ton of success and huge bankrolls, but...at the end of the day, there's still three and a half million dollars waiting for whoever wins, we've still got nearly a thirty million dollar prize pool, that's a pretty serious amount of money. Eleven thousand players here, being the best out of all of them over a weeklong period is a big thing for any player."

The dealer put down the nine of clubs, six of hearts and five of spades.

"And there's a big flop for Michelle, she makes bottom set! Takeru and Brandon have missed entirely, Michelle with a very firm grip on this hand."

Takeru tapped the table a few times.

"Michelle Leroy, she apparently had enough of running over her local casino's daily morning tournaments, and decided to try a big boy tournament on. This is her first ever tournament with a buyin of more than five hundred dollars. And she can bet here right now, which would almost certainly end the hand, or she can try to squeeze a little extra value out of playing deceptively."

She tapped the table as well, sending action over to Brandon, who checked behind.

"She slowplays her monster hand, and Brandon has the good sense to not continuation bet into danger, he checks as well."

"It's a bad flop for Brandon's range after raising preflop, it certainly hits Takeru and Michelle much better, so he'll just take a free turn."

The turn card, a king of clubs, upped the intrigue.

"Bad turn card for Brandon, he's now got top pair and is still drawing dead. Takeru picks up a gutshot to a straight, needs a queen."

"Michelle can now count on getting at least some action out of Brandon."

Takeru, after not acting for several seconds, reached down to pluck a couple chips off of the tops of his various stacks.

"Looks like Takeru might be the one who gets Michelle some extra chips from this pot, he's planning a bet with his gutshot straight draw. Seven hundred and fifty chips in the pot, all three of these players are very deep relative to blind sizes."

Takeru tossed out four red chips, clattering them into the pot.

"Four hundred chips, and we know Michelle is at least calling. She might also want to raise, the board has gotten a little wet now. Two clubs, quite a few straight possibilities. Some river cards would kill her action, and Takeru can draw out on her with the queen."

Michelle put four red chips out in two stacks of two.

"She's just going to call here, another four hundred in, Michelle sitting on ninety-three percent equity."

"Michelle is hoping at least one of her opponents has a king in their hand, and doesn't want to spook that king into folding."

"I call," Brandon said, putting out four red chips.

"Nearly two thousand chips in this pot, three players will see the river. A queen is the action card, there are three left in this deck, someone might go broke if it finds it's way to the board."

The nine of hearts completed the board.

"Michelle improves on the river, she's now got fives full of nines now, so if someone did happen to have eight seven for the flopped nut straight, she's now beating that. And Takeru, who took a shot at the pot on the turn, can't possibly try a second bullet when he's looking over at two callers, right?"

Takeru tapped the top of his cards a few times.

"Yup, Takeru looks to be about done with this hand, he's checked. Time for Michelle to go for a bit of value. Brandon might just pay her off with his top pair."

Michelle gradually put together a stack of seventeen red chips, grabbing the base of the tower and moving it forward towards the middle of the table.

"Michelle Leroy says that, in a world full of poker players who like to bluff a lot, she likes to sit back, make hands, and let everyone else try to bluff at her. She likes to read her opponents and pick them off when they try to make a move. This hand won't involve too much of that for her, she can rest assured that her fives full is the best hand."

"That looks like a seventeen hundred chip bet, very big. She's going for maximum value against the king that she hopes is in Brandon's hand, but that might be a bit too much for him to call."

Brandon looked down at his cards for a moment.

"That nine is definitely a bad card for Brandon's hand. Michelle could definitely have a hand like nine eight or ten nine, and has now made the best hand on the river. This would be a smart laydown from the professional."

Brandon tossed his cards over to the dealer.

"Very disciplined fold from Brandon, he gets away from top pair, and now Takeru gets to make a much easier laydown with jack high."

Takeru gave a snorting little laugh as Brandon's cards went into the muck, then looked down at the board.

"Apparently, Ishida didn't hear me, I said, he gets to make a much easier laydown with jack high."

Takeru used his right hand to pry up his cards, looking down at them again. He set them back down in front of him, looking over at Michelle.

"Michelle Leroy is certainly an attractive young woman, but there'd be plenty of time for Takeru to look over at her AFTER he folds his nothing hand! He's holding up the game!"

"Wow," Takeru muttered, rubbing the end of his tie up on his cheek. "Can't believe I'm thinking about this."

"Takeru's acting like he's got an eight or a six, and is considering a hero call with a small pair, which would be one thing. He doesn't have a small pair, he doesn't even have ace high! He's losing to some of Michelle's bluffs!"

Takeru bit down on his lower lip.

"I don't think Takeru is considering a check-raise at this point, his mannerisms and talk seem to give away the fact that he's weak, he can't represent anything credibly. So, if he's contemplating calling with jack high, what could possibly have him contemplating it?"

"You're not, like, floating the turn with ace high, are you?" He bit down on the inside of his cheek. "I guess maybe ace queen of clubs? I don't think you could do that." He raised an eyebrow. "Because that would suck if you're bluffing with that now."

"Yeah, Takeru, you just said it yourself. You can't even beat ace high! You can't beat queen high! What can you beat?!"

"Preeeeetty sick one," Takeru murmured. "I don't think you can float the queen ten of clubs either." He rolled his eyes. "That would suck even worse."

"It's certainly a large bet, maybe enough to put off alarm bells in Takeru's head. Maybe he's putting her on a hand like...seven four of clubs? Four three of clubs? Ten eight of clubs? Thinks maybe she just tried to get to the river as cheaply as possible, and is now trying to steal the pot after missing?"

"Michelle didn't raise the turn, like you might expect her to have done with an actual big hand, could be throwing Takeru off. And we know Michelle doesn't like to bluff that much...but how can Takeru know that?"

Takeru tossed out a few chips.

"And Takeru has CALLED with jack high! That's QUITE the hero call, and Takeru is dead wrong!"

Michelle flipped up her cards, showing the full house. Takeru nodded, tossing his cards over to the dealer.

"I can't believe he actually went through with it! It's one thing to think it, but calling with jack high?! If Michelle Leroy had two traffic tickets she would have had a better hand!"

"If you can just call the turn with that, then I guess my call is terrible," Takeru said.

"At least the kid knows when he messed up."

"King ten, or something?" Brandon asked, looking across the table over at Takeru.

"Not even," Takeru replied. "I made one of them hero calls." He rolled his eyes at himself. "It wasn't right."

"Takeru blows off nearly ten percent of his stack with a river call that seemed doom to failure! They say these pros think on a higher level than the rest of the poker world, but that time, Takeru might have just out-thought himself!"

OOO

"Oy," Anton Bondar said under his breath. "Oy yoy."

"Anton Bondar starting to feels the blows, he's had a less-than-fun half-hour of poker. Just a couple circuits ago, Anton was our chip leader with just over twenty million chips, and after a couple rough hands, he now finds himself down to fourteen million, in third place overall."

He brushed some short, blond hair off of his forehead. "Alright, here we go."

"No need to panic yet, Anton's still got nearly one hundred and twenty big blinds in his stack, and with just twenty-five players still left in this tournament, he still definitely has a clear route to making the final table."

He looked down at the ace of clubs and jack of clubs after action folded around to him.

"Right now, twenty-four of the players still alive in this tournament want to tighten up, bide their time, wait for premium hands, and hope things go their way down the stretch. Anton? The man they call The Mad Hatter doesn't know the meaning of the phrase 'tighten up', he's going to continue to mix it up at every opportunity."

Anton fired out three lavender chips.

"Big blind is one hundred and twenty thousand, that is a raise from the hijack to three hundred grand with a suited ace jack."

"The Mad Hatter will continue to move chips around at this critical juncture in this tournament. It's a strategy that can be very effective right now, so long as his opponents don't make big hands. If they do? Well, it can go the other way very quickly."

The cutoff, holding king six offsuit, folded, leaving it over to Ken on the button.

"Ken Ichijouji, he's out of the doghouse after that last double-up from Anton's stack, and he's got...two red deuces!"

Ken, with little hesitation, tossed out three lavender chips as well.

"Yeah, Ken's got a good enough hand to stick around. He can flop a set and let Bondar dig his own grave. And sometimes, against someone like Anton, he can even just hold on with a pair of deuces all the way to the river."

The small blind and big blind both folded quickly.

"Alright, we have two players to the flop, and it's a tossup right now. Just shy of one million chips already in this pot."

"Just a few minutes ago, Ken was down to less than thirty-five big blinds. He got it all-in with ace queen, Anton called him with pocket eights, and Ken flopped a queen to double up. There's one deuce left in the deck, Marco Bryant in the small blind folded eight deuce, Ken wants to see it on this flop."

The flop ripped out deuce of spades, ace of spades, ace of hearts.

"AND THERE IT IS! Ken hits his dream flop, he's got deuces full of aces, and Anton Bondar's flopped trip aces!"

"Anton thought some of the hands he just played were painful to go through? Well, he's about to learn a brand new definition of painful, this flop is destined to cause him plenty of agony."

Anton quickly put out four lavender chips.

"Four hundred thousand is the bet from The Mad Hatter. He loves to bet when he's got nothing, so when he's actually got something, he feels obligated to bet as well."

Ken rifled a small stack of lavender chips around, looking over at Anton across the table.

"And what's Ken doing to do with his full boat?"

"He can call, and let Anton continue to blast away on the turn. And if he were to put in a raise, Anton might put him on a spade flush draw, maybe something like king ten of spades, and could three-bet it. Both options are very appealing, Ken in the catbird's seat!"

Ken put out four lavenders as well.

"He's going to allow Anton to believe he's got the best hand with trip aces, he just makes the call. When you're as crazy aggressive as Anton, you can get called down by all kinds of hands, and Anton certainly knows this, so Ken could easily be doing this with a hand like pocket eights or pocket sevens."

With the chips accounted for, the dealer put down a three of hearts.

"Looks like a safe turn card for both players, three of hearts doesn't change much."

"Well, Anton now has to worry about five four, which just made a straight. And as for Ken, given Anton's image, he can't completely discount him holding ace three."

Anton fired out seven lavenders.

"Seven hundred thousand into one point seventy-four million, Anton's not gonna let up."

"Ken knows it's possible that Bondar doesn't have anything, and would hate to raise now and let him just fold before the river. But, if Ken can put Anton on an ace, then he can raise, and poach even more of those chips away."

Ken shuffled around chips, looking over his remaining stacks of lavender.

"Ken Ichijouji, son of the C.E.O. of IchTech, just began his professional career at the most recent world series. He had great results, won a Deuce Seven Lowball bracelet, and put himself on the map as one of the young up-and-comers in the world. Today is, by far, his best result in a Sienna Poker Tour event to date."

Takeru, arms resting up on the rail, sat perched at the edge of his seat, both eyes on Ken. Hikari, as always, sat to his right.

"Takeru Ishida, Ken's best friend, has been a far bigger story in the world of poker in recent months. But he fell out of this tournament back on day one, and says he's been happy to sit back and watch Ken go to work this last week."

Ken pulled two lavender chips off the top of one of his stacks, then pushed the remainder of the stack forward.

"Here comes the raise, Ken's pushing it up to one point eight million!"

"Ken decides it's time to go for maximum value with his full house, and he's just hoping that Bondar has an ace. Bondar does have an ace, and thus he can't possibly fold. Anton's far too crazy of a player to lay down a hand as strong as trip aces when he gets played back at."

Anton massaged at his lip with his right hand, looking over at Ken as the dealer counted out the raise.

"Clearly, Anton wasn't expecting a raise, and now he's at least a little suspicious. While he can't fold yet, it has to run through his head, what is Ken raising here that he can beat?"

Anton began to move some of his stacks around in front of him.

"Mostly just straight bluffs, really, I don't think Ken would do this with...ace ten or a flush draw. But if you're Anton, that's okay, Ken can definitely just be straight bluffing here with...a naked king high or suited connectors. When you're as crazy as Anton, people don't believe you have anything, so they try to bluff you more. Call, check-call the river, pretty easy play."

Anton took back his initial seven lavender chips and restacked them. He then added eight chips atop these ones, and pushed out the new stack of fifteen chips, along with a full stack of lavender, for a total of three and a half million chips.

"Three-bet from Anton, he's making it three and a half million! He does not take the supposed 'easy play', and this pot is swelling."

"Curious play from Anton, he's prompting Ken to commit more than half of the chips he started the hand with into this pot. Seems like he's trying to induce a shove from a flush draw, or maybe force a flush draw to fold. This seemed like a great time for him to do some pot control, bluff catch, and limit the size of this pot, but now, he might not even make it to showdown. A little too aggressive from the most aggressive player in this tournament."

Ken counted his remaining green chip stacks, parsing through them with his long fingers.

"Ken's girlfriend, Miyako Inoue, final tabled a major tournament a few hundred miles to the south of here a couple months ago, and when this hand is over, Ken may very well be in position to waltz his way to a final table of his own."

"Not exactly a comfortable spot for Ken, there are a few hands he can't beat, but there's no folding a hand this good against a player like Anton. He might even just ship it here, calling leaves him with less than four million behind with a pot several times bigger than that."

"The other side of that would be, if he shoves, there's really not anything that he can beat that should be calling him."

"All-in," Ken announced, pushing a few chips forward into the pot.

"And Ken rips for the rest of his chips! This is the biggest pot of the tournament so far, and Anton hasn't even decided what to do yet!"

Anton looked over at the handful of chips that Ken had pushed out into the pot, then back down at his own.

"And, even if it might hurt, Anton's just gotta fold now. Ken isn't ripping anything that Anton can beat, and even though he's getting more than three to one on a call, Ken isn't ripping anything that Anton is getting the right odds to draw out on."

Anton tossed a few green chips out past his cards.

"Anton can't get away from it, he makes the call, and Ken is on the verge of doubling up AGAIN and becoming the tournament chip leader!"

Ken turned over his pair of deuces, Anton revealing ace jack. Ken flinched slightly at the sight of the hand he was up against, eyes widening a bit.

"Ken seems surprised he got called, and it's hard to blame him. Anton in the middle of a rather unfortunate blowup, it would seem, and Ken is there to benefit from it. Of course, it's not over yet, Anton can knock Ken from the tournament with a rivered ace, jack, or three."

A four of clubs ended the hand.

"That four does not help Anton, he has doubled up Ken Ichijouji for the second time in the last twenty minutes!"

Ken pushed out a loud, exhaling breath, getting to his feet and quickly jogging over towards the rail amid a round of applause from the crowd surrounding the table. He gave a quick wave to the crowd as he went up to Takeru and Hikari.

"And Ken Ichijouji, who was just in danger of becoming one of the short stacks, is now the tournament chip leader with over sixteen million!"

Takeru pulled Ken in as he went up to the rail, wrapping his arms around his back and smacking it a few times.

"Right guy to hit that cooler against, huh?" Takeru said, letting Hikari wrap her arms around Ken's shoulders as well. "Right flop at the right time."

"What's he doing, though?" Ken said quietly. "Three-bet, call it off, what's...what was that?"

"Yeah, I...I had him on the straight when he called," Takeru said. "Actually, that's probably the bottom of his calling range, you'd think."

"If Anton had hit the brakes after getting raised, he could have saved at least a few million chips, but instead, he's now down in the danger zone. Ken is right to be surprised."

"Alright, nap your way to that final table," Takeru said, reaching forward and clapping him on the shoulder a few times. "Don't know how you're doing it with all these distractions."

Ken reached up to cover his collar microphone with his right hand, leaning up towards Takeru.

"A huge change in the pecking order here at the three thousand dollar Sienna Poker Tour Los Turko event! Twenty-five left, and tens of millions to pay out!"

OOO

~Takeru~

"How the hell is he doing it?" Takeru murmured, watching as Ken stacked a few more bright silver chips together in front of him.

The tournament had been reduced to just two players. Two hundred and twenty million chips, split between two remaining contestants, with over three and a half million dollars in cash in the middle of the table. It was the

"How much do you have?" Ken asked, peering over at Sebastian Rumov, on the opposite side of the miniaturized poker table from him. "That's like...fifty million?"

"Just a little less," Sebastian replied, voice heavy and thick.

"People are trying to kill us, and he's about to win a tournament with over ten thousand players," Takeru muttered. "I seriously can't focus, how does he...it's like, the fear of death made him better!"

A new pair of cards were dealt out to each player.

"Man," Takeru mumbled. "Biggest moment of his career, and she's not even here to watch. I guess that's my fault too."

"I'm sure she'll...she'll be okay," Hikari replied.

"Still though," Takeru insisted as Ken put six silver chips out next to the six already placed just past his cards. "He's on the verge of a three and a half million dollar score, and his girlfriend's not even showing up to see it." He shook his head. "That's not fun."

Sebastian tapped the table a few times, prompting the dealer to put out a flop.

"How did she know?" Hikari asked. The dealer put down the jack of spades, queen of hearts, and six of hearts.

"She's too smart," Takeru said wryly. "She figures things out. Sees through things. Doesn't believe in coincidences I guess."

Rumov slid out six gold chips, marking a bet of one and a half million chips.

"Speaking of which," Hikari began in a low, quiet voice. "We've managed to stay alive for a few weeks now, so...do you have anything we can use? Any ideas?"

Takeru paused for a moment as Ken stacked out six gold chips as well, then added three red, white and blue chips alongside it. Slowly, he pushed this arrangement of chips into the middle.

"Oh wow," Takeru muttered. "Three million more, that's big."

Rumov took his time considering Ken's raise, rubbing his temple. Ken glanced over to his right, over towards the audience.

"Actually, I might," Takeru finally replied to Hikari's question. "I might have a little something. We'll talk about it later, but...I just might."

Rumov slid three of the multi-colored chips into the pot.

"Over eleven million in the pot, yikes," Takeru muttered, leaning forward towards the table in the center of the room. "This could be it."

"What do they have?" Hikari wondered.

The dealer put down the eight of hearts.

Takeru gave a little chuckle. "One of them has a flush, the other has ten nine. Why not, right? Let's just get the ultimate cooler."

Sebastian checked over to Ken, who took a sip from a bottle of water to his right, then began looking down at his large remaining horde of chips.

"He's got to have one of those two hands," Takeru whispered. "Ten nine or hearts. He limped in, right? Ten nine offsuit? Ten seven of hearts?"

Ken got out a full stack of gold chips, then added twelve more gold ones alongside it. Eight million in chips went out into the middle of the table.

"God, his sizing," Takeru continued to talk, mostly to himself, just barely audible to Hikari. "He's really going for it."

Rumov took a moment to consider things, but quickly began getting together thirty-two gold chips as well.

"If he's calling, he's gotta have...well, Ken's been really active today, maybe he doesn't believe him...queen eight or something? At least two pair, I think. Can't put half your chips in with just one pair." Takeru got to his feet. "He's got a bit more than pot back if he calls, this...this could be it."

Sebastian shoved the thirty-two chips into the pot.

"This has to be a river shove, he's set it up perfectly to shove it," Takeru muttered, starting to get a bit antsy, eyes now on the stacks of cash in the middle of the table. "This is it, it's coming."

The river card, the eight of diamonds, paired the board.

Sebastian quickly checked again.

Ken looked over at his opponent's remaining chips, counting in his head. "Like...thirty-two million?" Ken asked.

Sebastian nodded. "Basically, thirty-two million."

Ken nodded. "I'm all-in," he announced, sliding a stack of rainbow chips forward.

Sebastian immediately swallowed down hard. "Ouch," he muttered.

"It's gotta be a flush," Takeru said, voice nearly drowned out by the sudden uptick in general ambiance from the crowd gathered around the table. "What else makes sense? Like, ten seven of hearts or...or something."

"You don't have the queen eight, do you?" Sebastian said, stretching his arms up into the air above his head. "That would suck, queen eight offsuit...only boat you can have." He shook his head. "I mean, it's got to be a flush, that's...feels like a flush."

Ken didn't react to Sebastian's read, sitting up in his chair, arms laying prone on the felt.

"You know, my hand is just insanely strong," Sebastian continued. "It's impossible for me to fold this hand, especially with how active you've been today, and I just feel like I'm beat somehow."

"He's got a straight," Takeru said under his breath. "He's got the straight, ten nine, Ken's got the flush, this is it right here." He reached over, rubbing Hikari's shoulder. "Get ready to jump the rail."

Finally, with a shrug, Sebastian picked a single gold chip off of his chip stacks and tossed it forward into the pot. Ken jumped to his feet, picking up and tossing his cards face up towards the middle of the table, revealing the ace and three of hearts. Sebastian gave a small nod, showed the ten of hearts and nine of clubs, then tossed the cards over to the muck.

Immediately, Ken threw his fist up into the air, a satisfied grimace on his face as he rounded on the pile of money in the middle of the table. True to his suggestion, Takeru vaulted the rail as the entire crowd burst in a cacophony of loud cheers at the crowning of a new champion. Hikari was quick to follow.

Ken exchanged a quick handshake with Sebastian, and then allowed Takeru to charge right into him, pushing him back towards his newly-won pile of money. A young woman rushed onto the scene, holding a spherical trophy in her hands, quickly handing it over to Ken.

"That's how you get it!" Takeru shouted above the din of cheers all around the room. "Sienna Poker Tour champion!"

Ken lifted the trophy up above his head, looking around the room and thrusting it up and down.

OOO

"See, this is how I know I really messed up," Takeru said, looking almost sheepish. "You're a Sienna Poker Tour champion now, you've hit the biggest poker score of your career by far, and you're not enjoying it nearly as much as you should."

Ken, an open luggage bag at his feet, was laying down atop the large stacks of paper bills on the couch, a large blue glass bottle in his right hand and the championship trophy in his left hand, with a pair of overly-large sunglasses on his face.

"Do I look like I'm not enjoying myself?" Ken asked, spreading his hands out to his sides. "How could I possibly be enjoying myself more than I am right now? Look at me, do I look like...do I look like someone who could enjoy myself more than I am right now?"

"If it wasn't for my drama, you'd be...you'd be going apeshit. Parties, flying in your entire family, everything. This, this is what you're doing because you can't do any of that, so you're...yeah, this is how I really know I messed up. I screwed this situation up so badly, you can't even fully enjoy winning three and a half million dollars." Takeru's eyes popped open a bit as he fell back heavily on the chair across from the couch. "You don't even have your girlfriend here."

Ken shrugged. "Hey, you don't have your girl out here, why should I get to have mine?" He took a long swig from the blue bottle. "Don't sweat it, I have no problem celebrating quietly."

"There's nothing quiet about those sunglasses," Hikari said teasingly, entering the main room. "It's the loudest quiet celebration I've ever seen in my life."

Ken set the bottle down on the floor, then grabbed one of the wads of money. He tossed it over towards Hikari, who nimbly jumped out of the way. The wad burst into a fluttering cloud of loose bills after striking the wall.

"And I've got more ammo where that came from," Ken said, faux-threateningly holding up another wad.

"Okay, we are actually gonna have to get all of that deposited, so...maybe don't do that," Takeru said.

"Think about it this way," Ken suggested. "If I end up getting killed by The Bosses in the next few weeks, my name gets in the record books anyway now. I'm not just some kid with potential who was cut down before I could really do anything worthwhile. I could be like you now, I'm a...I'm a budding superstar who got mysteriously murdered just as things were really taking off!" He pursed his lips. "You know, I can almost deal with that! That's not so bad, I'm okay, you know?"

Takeru gave a little laugh. "I can think of...I can think of better ways to go."

"Okay, really though," Ken started, sitting up and pulling the sunglasses off his face. "Being as that we've managed to stay alive for a couple weeks now, somehow...maybe we should consider figuring out a way out of this."

Takeru winced. "Okay." His head hung for a moment, staring down at a carpet. "What if...what about Poker Hub?"

"What about it?" Ken asked.

Takeru's mouth moved left and right a couple times. "I was thinking, this last week, I've spent time away from the felt...I was so distracted when I was playing it was whatever anyway, and...remember what that kid said about Poker Hub?"

"Yeah, uh...Michael's got a big investment in Poker Hub," Ken recalled. "What are you getting at?"

"It was more than that," Takeru continued. "Michael...he's one of the most powerful people at Hub, he has his friend running it, remember? Ray Paxton? Remember what Vincent was telling us?"

"Yeah, you're...I remember that," Hikari joined into the conversation suddenly, leaning up over the back of the couch. "He...he had a big financial investment into Hub, and had his friend running the company."

"And Vincent said that Ray wasn't qualified to run it and only got the position because of his relationship with Michael," Takeru continued. "Think about it, right? If Michael's got that much invested into Hub, he's probably got some shady things going on there too, right? That's what this guy does, if he's involved, then...then there's something less-than-legal about it."

Ken gave an unconvinced little mouth twitch. "Well, sure, but...we know that, that doesn't help. We know he's doing all sorts of shady stuff, but...the point is proving it."

"Okay, but...well, these guys, The Bosses, they're really good at keeping things covered up, but...maybe this is a way in. Vincent said Ray was sort of a goofball, so maybe he's got some loose ends, some...maybe he's got something we can find and use."

Ken slowly nodded. "Okay, but...he can't be THAT stupid, he's been running Hub for a few years now. It can't be anything completely obvious. And if we can't find proof, then it's still no good to us."

"Maybe we can't, but...Koushiro. He's a part-owner, isn't he? He's got points of Hub, so...he might be able to find something that the general public can't." Takeru nervously ran his fingers over his mouth. "He once told me he didn't care about Hub, never looked into the business, he just...got paychecks every month. Maybe if he took a look, he might...find something."

Ken grimaced, tossing his sunglasses over onto the coffee table in front of him. "I mean, we're pulling Koushiro into this mess if we go that way, I...I don't love that."

"You think I do?" Takeru asked. "But we need something to work with, and...this has to have a chance, right? PokerHub has to have some skeletons in the closet, and if Paxton really is a screwup, maybe we can pull them out."

An extended silence hung in the room, everyone thinking.

"It makes sense," Hikari admitted. "More sense than anything else."

"So, let's fly to Panok, which is honestly something that...we might do anyway as poker players, nothing funny about that...these guys might be good, but they're not omnipotent, there's got to be a way we can get help from Koushiro without putting him at risk. And I know, I know he's...gonna be a husband soon, and the last thing I want is to pull him into the line of fire, but...I don't have any other plans."

Ken sighed. "No time to be picky, I suppose." He lifted the bottle back up into the air. "Alright, Panok it is!"

"And hey...if we die there...not such a bad place to go," Takeru added, a pained little smirk on his face. 


	45. Runner Runner

Chapter 45: Runner Runner

"Hey, I love calling, what can I say?" Takeru said, shrugging as he tossed six white chips forward into the pot. "I learned it from you, buddy. You taught me to always call."

Daniel gave an animated nod. "I...I do enjoy calling light," he admitted, putting two white chips out in front of him. "I'll give you that. Jack high though, that's stretching it a bit."

"It's self-promotion," Michael Dalton suggested, also placing an ante into the pot. "If he calls and is right, the whole world is talking about it, if he's wrong, the whole world is STILL talking about it. It's worth the chips. We're still talking about it right now, aren't we?"

"Welcome back to Six Figure Stacks, The Panok Edition. We're eight-handed, everyone here bought in for a minimum of a quarter million bucks. Blinds are four hundred and eight hundred, two hundred dollar ante."

"If he called and was right, it's gotta be a top...ten hero call in poker history, right?" Todd Brown suggested as cards were fired out at each player. "Top five, maybe?"

"Too early in the tournament for that," Takeru replied. "Maybe in a vacuum. I dunno, it's probably a bad call. Probably not profitable. I just didn't think she would call the turn with a big hand."

"A few days ago, Takeru Ishida made a river call with jack high in a Sienna Poker Tour event. It was a very optimistic call to be certain, and the whole poker world is still buzzing about it a bit."

"Unbelievable," Ken muttered, folding the ten of diamonds and seven of hearts over to the dealer. "I win the tournament, and everyone's more interested in a terrible hero call that Takeru made on the first day. I just can't win."

Daniel Karns had a look down at the ten of spades and nine of spades. "You played great, my man." He tossed three black chips past his cards. "Great tournament, eleven thousand players...great run."

"Believe me, Ken, the attention I'm getting from that hero call isn't positive," Takeru pointed out. "I called into a full house, I wish people would stop talking about it, trust me."

Koushiro folded nine deuce of hearts over to the dealer. "I've called with nine high before," he said. "It wasn't right."

"Well, you've played like...eleven billion hands in your life, imagine you've done just about everything at one point or another," Todd Brown said, finding the queen of hearts and queen of clubs in his hand.

"Todd Brown, son of the legendary Don Brown, is in the cutoff, and he's got a very welcome sight down below, a pair of queens. Karns opened in middle position with the ten nine suited, standard play would be to raise."

Todd, however, just put out three black chips.

"But he's just gonna make the call with his queens. Michael Dalton throws away jack deuce of spades, over to Takeru Ishida in the small blind."

Takeru looked down at the seven and five of spades.

"Wow, lots of spades. Karns has the ten nine of spades, Dalton folded the jack deuce of spades, and now Takeru's got seven five of spades."

"Twenty-six hundred to me?" Takeru asked, flicking in two black chips with six white ones chasing it.

"He's in. He does not wanna see spades on this board. Good news is there aren't too many left."

The big blind folded eight five offsuit, closing the action.

"Three players to the flop. Todd Brown's got way the best hand with pocket queens, already over eleven thousand in the middle."

Nine of clubs, three of spades, eight of spades.

"Wow! What a flop! Todd still leads with the overpair, Daniel has top pair and a ten-high flush draw, and Takeru has a seven-high flush draw and a gutshot. Guaranteed fireworks on this flop."

"Todd Brown is the effective stack with over four hundred thousand behind, so we are very deep, and a huge chunk of that stack may very well end up in this pot before we're done here! Nobody will be folding on a flop like this."

Takeru checked, allowing Daniel to slide a purple chip, three black chips, and five white chips into the middle.

"Daniel's actually the favorite to win the hand, even though he trails for the moment. As long as he's not up against a flopped set, he's in good shape, and he bets out eight and a half thousand."

Todd considered the bet from Daniel for several seconds, shuffling a stack of black chips around.

"Todd's certainly at least calling. He could even raise, and would probably get action in two spots if he did."

Todd pushed out a single green chip.

"He's just gonna call, take a card off. And Takeru certainly can't go anywhere with his big combo draw, even though he's in rough shape. He might even raise, and if he does, I have to believe Daniel's plan is to re-raise and try to get as much money as possible into the pot."

Takeru made the call after a couple moments.

"Thirty-seven thousand now in the middle to the turn. Takeru's only real hope of winning is a non-spade six. A spade would be awful for him."

The queen of spades hit the turn.

"And that's the action card! Someone might be going broke on this hand. Daniel Karns leads with the ten high flush, Takeru Ishida is drawing dead but has made the seven high flush, and Todd Brown now holds top set. That's the most interesting card in the deck for sure."

Takeru checked again.

"Takeru's playing in flow, he checks. Daniel's gotta keep building a pot here, he might get to stack off two players here."

Daniel, however, tapped the felt as well, sending it over to Todd.

"Wow, Daniel's checked. Don't really know why, he had the betting lead and just made his hand as well as he could have hoped."

Todd also checked.

"Incredible. All three players make monster hands on the turn, all three players check. I can understand Takeru and Todd checking, still don't get Daniel's check."

"Takeru drawing dead to make the best hand here, Todd can make a full house with a rivered nine, three, eight, or queen."

An ace of hearts appeared on the river.

"A rivered ace doesn't change much for these three players. Todd Brown might be a little concerned that Daniel has pocket aces, and just rivered a better set. But all three of these players must feel like they have the best hand after it checked through on the turn. Which is great news for Daniel."

Takeru checked yet again.

"Daniel can't check now, he's gotta fire out and try to get some value. He should get it from both players."

Daniel grabbed two green chips, a purple, a black, and two whites. This varied column went out past his cards.

"Twenty-six thousand two hundred. He's hoping someone has ace queen, jack ten for a straight, or maybe a smaller flush."

Todd, without much consideration, built an identical stack of chips and sent it out into the middle.

"Todd calls. Ninety thousand in the pot, and Takeru can't fold. He might even raise and get into some more trouble. He might be giving Daniel three aces, or even a straight, and go for extra value."

Four dark blue chips, a black chip, and two white ones. Takeru slid the six figure tower into the pot, towards the dealer.

"And that looks like a big raise. Those dark blue chips are worth twenty-five thousand dollars a piece, so it's a raise to one hundred and one thousand two hundred. And he's doing it for value, he thinks his hand is best."

Daniel shifted around in his seat, frowning a bit down at his chipstack.

"And Daniel doesn't like that. He's considering that Takeru might have a bigger flush, maybe the absolute nuts."

Daniel rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. He blinked rapidly a few times.

"Now, all that talk earlier about how Daniel likes to call light. The fourth-nuts isn't exactly calling light, but Daniel seems to be putting Takeru on either a bluff or a better flush."

Daniel picked up his cards, looking down at them.

"Daniel should realize how under-represented his hand is after checking the turn. Takeru can be betting a worse hand for value, given the action. Maybe that talk earlier about how Daniel likes to call light has him levelling himself."

Daniel showed his cards over to Ken, sitting next to him, then reluctantly tossed his cards over to the muck.

"Wow! Daniel lets it go!"

"May as well save the money this time, I guess," Daniel muttered.

"Daniel folds the best hand, he decides to make an uncharacteristic hero fold! Can't believe he'd give up that hand against a player like Takeru! And now Todd Brown with his set of queens."

"You trying to tell me you checked a flush twice?" Todd asked, staring over at Takeru. "Tough for me to believe that."

"Todd asking the question that Daniel should have been asking. If Takeru had the nut flush, why would he check the turn and river? Frankly, it's kind of surprising he checked the hand that he has twice."

Todd, after several long seconds, began to build a small stack of chips.

"Looks like Todd's calling, and this is amazing. Takeru has value bet the second best hand, got the best hand to fold, and he's about to get the worst hand to call. This is an absolute poker miracle."

Todd called, slipping a few chips into the middle.

"Flush," Takeru said quickly.

Daniel, a highly-interested observer, leaned up across the table towards Takeru as Takeru flipped his cards over. "How big?"

"Small," Takeru said, revealing his seven and five. Daniel immediately slapped the table with his right palm and turned away.

"Oh my God," Ken yelped quietly. Todd, with a shrug, tossed his cards over to the dealer, keeping them face down. "TK, do you...do you know what you just did?"

Daniel shook his head. "Man!" He gave a quiet little hiss. "I finally got him, and I let him off."

"He folded the ten high flush," Ken said, pointing his thumb over at Daniel. "He had it."

"I would have had the jack high flush," Michael muttered. "That's crazy."

Takeru nodded as the pot got pushed over towards him. "Yeah, I...I thought something like that could happen."

"You knew?" Ken asked, as Daniel gave his body a couple rapid shakes, as if to shake off the hand. "You knew he had you?"

"No, but...I thought maybe I could get him off a hand like that. Might get called by worse too." Takeru began to stack the pot.

"I've seen some nutty stuff in my life, but that's the best merge bet I've ever seen," Koushiro said.

"Like I said, that hand was a miracle for Takeru. And he's talking as if he was planning for it to happen that way!"

"Yeah, I was merging," Takeru said. "It was a merge."

Koushiro gave a small smile. "That's one hell of a magic trick."

OOO

"Dude, you own your own island, you're worth millions, you can't afford real shoes?" Ken asked, leaning back and peering down beneath the table over towards Koushiro. "Those look like they're made out of plastic, you look like...they make you look like one of those beach bums who go up and down the shore with a metal detector looking for buried coins."

Koushiro shrugged. "It's a...it's a tropical city, it's hot out, I like...I like sandals, so what?"

"Well, we can debate back and forth about that all day, but...come on, you can do better than those," Ken insisted, leaning forward to look down at his cards. "Pretty sure you can buy those shoes by the pound at a stall by the beach, step your game up."

"Ken giving Koushiro a hard time for wearing plastic sandals to a poker table with about four million dollars in chips on it. When you play as well as Koushiro does, you can wear whatever you want and get away with it."

Ken looked down at the king of diamonds and king of clubs.

"Ken's got the cowboys from under the gun! From giving fashion lessons to finding pocket kings, pretty nice transition."

"Ken's been playing tight so far tonight, still got about three hundred thousand in front of him."

Ken tossed out one black chip.

"He's just calling with the kings. Interesting. This looks really strong, limping in from under the gun. Should send off some alarm bells."

A few folds went around the table.

"Ken's coming in hot off his big win in a tournament last week. He bested eleven thousand other players, came away with three and a half million. He and Takeru are best friends, they grew up and learned the game together, and he's proven that he's also one of the elite up-and-coming players."

Daniel Karns had a look down at the eight of clubs and nine of clubs.

"Suited connectors for Daniel. He loves playing hands like this, but he should be suspicious of Ken limping, so he can't do too much yet."

Daniel flicked out one black chip as well.

"And Daniel limps in as well, just calls the eight hundred big blind. He knows something's up. Atta boy, Daniel."

"Raise it," Kris Carroll announced, tossing out a single purple chip after looking at the ace of diamonds and seven of hearts.

"And whereas Daniel Karns, the professional, knows enough to smell danger when the under the gun player limps, Kris Carroll doesn't. Kris is a rich businessman, an amateur player, and he's gonna do exactly what Ken was hoping someone would do. Raise to five grand from the button."

Koushiro folded ace deuce offsuit, Todd folded jack six offsuit, and Ken flipped in a purple chip.

"Wow, that surprises me. Ken just calls the raise with two kings. Seemed like a pristine opportunity to re-raise with his kings. But he's gonna take a chance and go to the flop three ways, because I'm sure Daniel is calling as well."

Karns was quick to toss in a purple chip as well. Ken and Daniel both got a handful of white chips back from the dealer.

The flop was put down. Nine of diamonds, king of spades, nine of hearts.

"Yowch! Another monster flop. Kris has nothing, he's missed. Daniel flops trip nines. But Ken has this hand on lockdown with kings full of nines. Big pot seems inevitable."

Ken and Daniel both checked over to Kris quickly.

"And Kris looks like he's planning to put out a continuation bet, and he's going to get punished very quickly by both players. Eighteen thousand in the pot, it's a paired, king-high board, he's gonna take a shot."

Kris did indeed fire out a stack of eight black chips and eight white chips.

"Less than half the pot. Kris figures that, if someone does have something and this bluff doesn't get through, he may as well bet small and save some money. And that's obviously the case here, so he'll at least get out fairly cheap. And Ken should just call here, his hand is too big to raise. He can hope that one of these two guys has the case king, and he doesn't want to blow them off it."

Ken built two stacks, one black and one white, making the call.

"Yup, he's not raising. No point in it, nothing really to protect against with a hand this big. And Daniel's got about one hundred and fifty thousand left in front of him, he's had a rough day so far. Don't see him getting away from this, he might just get felted here."

"Twenty thousand more," Daniel announced, shifting a few stacks of black chips forward towards the dealer.

"And Daniel's raising his trips! He's probably putting both of his opponents on a king. Maybe Kris has ace king, and Ken has something like king queen, or maybe even aces."

Kris was quick to get rid of his cards. "Alright, you two have fun."

"Kris is out. Now Ken's got a binary decision tree here. He can call and hope an eight comes off on the turn, or maybe a total brick. Or he can put Daniel on a nine, raise, and try to get it in."

"Ken's hand is so big, I still prefer calling. If Daniel has a nine, like he does, you can get all his money anyway later on. But whatever Ken does, I don't think Daniel can get away."

"Forty thousand on top," Ken said, pushing two dark blue chips and two black chips in.

"He is gonna raise, that's forty thousand more. Daniel already made one hero fold tonight, and it was incorrect, don't see him making one here. But he can just call the forty thousand and see what happens on the turn."

Daniel put his hand on top of a giant pack of cash he had in front of him, then looked over the last couple of chip stacks in front of him.

"That pack of cash does play, it's worth a hundred thousand dollars. That's most of what Daniel has in front of him. And he looks like he's considering committing it to this hand."

"I'm all-in," Daniel said.

"Call," Ken said, nearly jumping out of his seat as he said it.

"Kings full?" Daniel asked, putting his knuckles up against his cheek as Ken took his hand and flipped it up. "Yeah."

"Yeah, kings full," Ken said.

"Oh, wow, what a flop," Takeru said, looking over at Ken's cards.

"You got a nine, right?" Ken asked Daniel.

"No, I have pocket fours," Daniel said dryly, turning his cards over. "Yeah, a nine. Can we do it twice?"

Takeru gave a loud snorting laugh, prompting Ken to shoot him a glance out of the corner of his eyes.

"See, I'm the mature one," Ken said. "Yeah, twice is fine."

"Daniel's got one out, and he's got four chances to hit it. Needs to find the nine of spades to make quads, or else he'll be out over one hundred and fifty thousand."

"Man, I should try that strategy sometime," Kris Carroll said. "Just fold everything until I flop a full house, get it in against trips. That's actually a really smart strategy, don't know why I don't do it."

A four of clubs and seven of diamonds went out to complete the first run.

"Daniel needs a nine to split the pot, or else Ken will suddenly be up over one hundred and fifty thousand."

"Yeah, that's how you play poker, boys," Ken muttered, rubbing his hands together.

"Look at him, he flops kings full and now he's so proud of himself," Koushiro said teasingly.

"I'm proud of you, Ken," Todd said, reaching over to pat Ken on the back.

"Hey, Koushiro, when this hand is over I'll sell you my shoes if you sell me yours," Daniel suggested. "We can trade shoes, you throw in two hundred bucks, that seems fair, right? Those shoes are probably more in my price range after this."

"All that One Drop money already gone, buddy?" Koushiro asked, grinning. "I think you'll be okay."

A deuce of clubs and jack of hearts completed the board.

"Ken wins both runs and takes the whole pot."

"Always running bad on this show," Daniel mumbled to himself. "But it's okay, you guys are such a great group to hang around, it's worth it."

"It's true. Daniel Karns, for whatever reason, keeps running into coolers every time he appears on Six Figure Stacks."

"No no, I'm in for another half a million," Daniel insisted. "It's fine."

OOO

~Takeru~

"You understand, it takes a lot for me to be impressed, I've seen everything," Koushiro said, taking a quick drag from a glass bottle in his right hand. "But that was a...sexy merge bet," he continued. "If you're telling me that was the plan, I mean...wow."

"I mean, I didn't think it would work that well, but...I knew I was merging," Takeru said.

The poker room had been vacated of all the other players, the lights turned off and the cameras retired. Koushiro got to his feet, looking around the small room for a moment. "Alright, they don't like it when the players hang around too long after the session, let's...let's scram."

Takeru rose up tall as well. "The room only matters because of people like us."

"Oh, forgot to ask, are you...how are you doing?" Koushiro began casually strolling over towards one of the exits to the room, past a long white bar countertop. "I heard about the break-in, that's...can't be any fun to deal with." He grimaced. "And then it gets...violent like that? Wow."

Takeru, eyes going a bit wide, nodded. "Yeah, uh...still shaken." He bit down on his cheek for a moment. "Daisy, she actually had a therapist move into her condo. A live-in therapist, she, uh...was having trouble sleeping. How can you blame her, you know?"

"I don't even know what I would do if...if something like that happened to me," Koushiro added. The two departed The Gold Room, heading down a vacated hallway with a bright, garish, repeating color scheme all along the walls.

"So, uh, how's your lady?" Takeru asked, glancing around the hall, satisfied with the empty state of it.

"Great," Koushiro answered. "She's, uh...it's just all so great right now. You know, she actually has a lot of connections that you might not assume, she...she knows a lot of people. Interesting, all the people you can meet just by being good at a game."

"H-hey, uh..." Takeru winced, looking down at the floor for a minute, stopping in the hallway. "Say, uh...I gotta ask you something real quick." He stopped, looking behind him for a moment.

"You wanna stay on the island tonight, that's no problem," Koushiro said quickly. "We're happy to have you guys around any time, as long as—"

"Well, that's actually probably not a great idea right now," Takeru said hesitantly. "Uh...it's about Hub. You...you once mentioned that you didn't really care about the business end of Hub, right? You never looked into any of it?"

Koushiro nodded. "I probably should, but...I don't know, it's just not interesting to me."

"But you can, right?" Takeru asked. "Like, you have...you could look at their bottom line stuff if you want to?"

"I'm an owner now, yeah, they have to let me look at the numbers if I ask, that's part of it...why?" Koushiro looked behind him, over towards the door that lead out into the main room of the casino, hearing the bustling commotion from the other side.

Takeru pressed his palm to his forehead, thinking. "It's...it's just a little thing, I heard a...a rumor." His cheek twitched a couple times. "Poker Hub might be involved in...they might be doing something bad. Something illegal. Bad business practices, something...something that's not good. So I heard it, and I thought about you, and...I thought maybe you'd like to take a look at it."

Koushiro squinted down, slowly slipping his hands into his pockets. "That's kind of a weird thing to hear, where would you...where would you hear something like that? Who said that?"

"J-just through the grapevine, while I was playing in some of the Sienna tournaments," Takeru insisted. "Just, I heard it, and I figured you wouldn't want to be involved with that. Stuff like that, it can really bring you down, you can get caught up in it."

"Well, sure. You do understand that...people say stuff all the time, right? Believe me, I grew up on the internet, people just...they just say stuff. You listen to all of it, take all of it seriously, you go insane. People accuse everyone of everything, you look hard enough, someone's coming up with some big conspiracy theory. It doesn't mean anything."

"Uh..." Takeru ran his fingers through his hair. "Absolutely, that's totally true, it's just...you haven't had a look at anything yet. So...it's not impossible, it's not like you've spent a lot of time vetting them or anything."

Koushiro continued to give Takeru a confused, questioning look. "Hey, you sure you don't wanna spend the night on the island? Feels like you...is there something going on?"

"N-no, that would be a really bad idea, actually," Takeru said, words spilling out of his mouth suddenly. "Okay, you're...you're clearly the wrong guy to try to lie to, uh...made millions of dollars off of figuring out when someone's lying." He looked back up at Koushiro, again looking around the hallway. "Buddy, I...I've kind of gotten myself in a bad situation, is the thing."

Koushiro recoiled slightly. "W-wait, how the hell are you in makeup? You won like four million dollars in two tournaments in the last month, you've got all that world series money, you're trying to tell me you're in makeup?"

Takeru gave a little laugh. "No, no, not in makeup, not...that's not it."

Koushiro paused for a moment. "If you...if you are, you can tell me, I'm happy to stake you since you're so damn good, but I just want to know how the hell you could get into makeup."

"I'm not in makeup," Takeru insisted. "I..." he pursed his lips. "I may have gotten on the bad side of the wrong person. I mean, *really* the wrong person." He scratched at the back of his head. "The break-in a couple weeks ago wasn't random, it was...well, this guy letting me know just how much I got on his bad side."

Koushiro's eyes widened a bit. "You're kidding me."

Takeru squeezed his eyes shut, grabbing a handful of his hair on the side of his head and pulling at it a bit. "I wish. Uh, do you know who...who Michael Gandolphini is?"

"Sure," Koushiro answered. "Billionaire businessman, might have some shady things going on in the backyard...that's about it." He shrugged. "Nothing to do with me, that's all I know."

"Okay, well...remove the 'might' and you've pretty much got it," Takeru said, voice starting to sound a tad neurotic. "Yeah, he...he's part of the biggest organized crime ring in the world."

"What the hell did you do?" Koushiro asked. "How can someone like you cross someone like him? You don't owe him money, do you?"

"It's...it's kind of a long story, but...I might have poked around a bit in his business, enough that he figured it out." Takeru continued to fidget around a bit, entirely unlike his typical demeanor. "The break-in was meant to send a message, and the exclamation point was going to be...setting my girlfriend on fire." He paled a bit. "So...last few weeks, I've been trying to be as anonymous as possible when I'm outside casinos, pretty sure he's not...just gonna shrug his shoulders and say good enough."

Koushiro looked horrified. "Dude, what are you...what are you doing?" His whole face wrinkled a bit as Takeru weakly leaned his forearm up against the wall. "I...what are you involved in? Our lives, our lives are...they're so good." He went up to the wall as well, leaning up close to Takeru. "I...why would you do that? You've got such a good life, you can do ten million different things that don't involve crossing a mob boss."

"I was trying to make it better," Takeru said wistfully. "I had a reason, and it was a good one. Of course, what I did with that reason was very stupid, and I'm in neck deep now." He exhaled sharply. "I'm trying to make myself as hard to find as possible, but...how long can I do that? And then what? Hope he just forgets about it?"

Koushiro was silent for a moment. "Well, what else can you do?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Takeru replied, slowly spinning his body so his back was leaning up against the wall. "So anyway, that's why I can't stay on your island tonight, and that's why I'd like to stay in this hallway until we're done. It's the one place in this entire building that doesn't have other people or microphones." He looked around. "So, sorry for being cryptic, that's...that's not really appropriate in this situation. And nobody on the planet could possibly blame you if you wanted to just walk away and forget we had this conversation."

"I'd very much like to," Koushiro said quickly.

Takeru gave a small head bob, raising his hand up a bit so his palm pointed up at the ceiling. "You're gonna be a husband soon, this is the last thing you need, just...just go home tonight, forget all of this. Not gonna come back to you."

"No no no," Koushiro said. "You don't understand, I'd *like* to," he repeated. "I'd *like* to, but I can't."

Takeru paused for a moment, then looked back up at Koushiro. "What do you mean?"

Koushiro gave a frustrated little scoff. "Well, look, buddy. You...you're in trouble, right? Like, a lot of trouble. Life-threatening trouble, even?"

"Yeah, that's...probably accurate," he admitted. "And it's got nothing to do with you, and...it's not right of me to pull you into it."

"You already have," Koushiro said. "Your life's in danger, I can't just walk away." He shrugged. "We're friends now, aren't we? I can't do that. Not if there's something I can do."

Takeru seemed a bit surprised for a moment. "We've...well, we've known each other for a few months."

"That's not a small thing to me," Koushiro insisted. "That's a big thing to me. And if you're saying that...it's really that bad, I can't just walk away."

Takeru sighed. "You don't sound too happy about it, so—"

"I'm not happy about it!" Koushiro snapped. "Why would I be? I'm...I'm getting pulled into something that I'm the least equipped person on the planet to deal with, but...I'm not gonna hear all of this and then just...go home." He shrugged. "So, what are you looking for? What does this have to do with Hub?" Koushiro's eyebrows squeezed up a few centimeters. "Sorry, I...what's the connection here? I forget already."

Takeru puffed out a large breath. "Gandolphini has a big stake in Poker Hub, and installed Ray Paxson at CEO, they're...they're longtime friends. Anyway, apparently, this Paxson guy is kind of a...not the smartest guy around. I'm wondering if, maybe...Hub is doing something illegal. And it's possible Paxson hasn't done the best job of hiding it."

"I'm just an owner, you know," Koushiro pointed out, nervously looking over towards the door leading back out to the main casino area. "One of a couple dozen, they can all see the same things I can see. If something was that obviously crooked, someone else would have seen it, I'm sure."

"Maybe they're not looking," Takeru suggested. "I mean, nobody knows this about Hub. Nobody's thinking they might have links to the mob. Maybe it's out there and nobody's thinking about it." He winced. "Look, I know it might be a little thin, but...this is what I need for this to be over. I need solid proof of what this guy is involved in. Something I can use to get him to back off, or maybe...maybe even more than that."

Koushiro thought for a moment, mouth hanging slightly open, then nodded. "I'll have a look."

"Means a lot to me," Takeru said. "Means a lot."

"I don't know what I expect to find, I think a federal investigation would be required to pull anything out, but...I can look. I'm allowed to do that, nobody will say anything about that."

Takeru leaned in, giving Koushiro a quick hug. "Thanks, man. I know you don't have to do it, it's a lot to ask, it...this might just save me."

Koushiro gave a nervous smile. "Well, really...all things considered I kind of feel like I have to."

OOO

"I'm not getting my hopes up," Takeru said under his breath, throat vibrating up and down on his neck, giving away his tension. "Believe me, this is a huge parlay to try to push through, I'm more than aware, but...it's gotta be better than zero."

Flying coach, amid the masses being shuffled from one side of globe to the other in large groups, aboard commercial airlines was a rather interesting experience. There were so many people packed into rather close quarters, Takeru almost felt claustrophobic. It felt very odd, not having the option to stand up and move around with impunity while on a flight. He found himself experiencing some of the fears of flying that had never plagued him before, with the situation so much more restricted.

"Yeah, better than zero, that's...that's a fair way of putting it," Ken whispered back. "He seriously said he had no choice but to help you, because your his friend?"

"Yeah," Takeru said, sounding slightly incredulous himself. "He was just, like...I'm not happy about it, I'm clearly annoyed, but...I have to do it. Not even, I'm going to do it, I just have to do it."

"Never would have guessed he was the devoted friend type," Ken muttered. "Learn something new every day."

"A-are you gonna eat those?" Hikari jumped into the conversation, pointing towards a plastic bag, sealed in front of Takeru on a small tray. Takeru quickly grabbed it and tossed it over in front of her.

"He...he said..." Takeru suddenly looked back over towards Hikari. "You know, now that I think about it...how are *you* handling this situation so well?" he asked. "Like, Ken just won a major tournament, you're over there eating peanuts, how are you people taking this so well? We might die!"

Hikari couldn't help a little snort as she pulled the package open. "Obviously, eating peanuts is an indicator of comfort," she said dryly.

"You know I've been eating like one meal a day the last three weeks?" Takeru said. "All I can do to just hold it together right now, how are you...you're just going with the flow."

"I'm used to facing death," Hikari reminded him. "Happened constantly in my life." She thought for a moment, then gave a little shrug. "Of all the possible ways I could have possibly died in twenty years, this would actually be the best one. Get to die for something."

"If your owner being a moron counts as dying for something," Takeru countered, giving a small smile. "Oh, man, so bad that I'm the one who can't handle this situation after I got us into it." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, Ken, don't think for a second I'm one hundred percent sure this is going to go well, but...at least it's something to hope for."

"If this doesn't go well, then...frankly, I'm not sure what we do next, I'll just say that now," Ken responded. "So, tomorrow, let's just try to have some fun. We haven't had much of that lately, feels like. Let's just forget all the bullshit for a few hours."

Takeru blinked, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. "It's kind of hard to forget this situation," he protested. "Kind of...overtakes everything else. Any recommendations?"

"Vodka Pineapple Soda?"

Takeru looked up, finding a stewardess, standing in the aisle, holding a tall glass over towards him.

"O-oh, thank you," Takeru said, reaching over to take the glass.

"Actually, maybe that," Ken suggested, pointing at the glass at Takeru took it. "Just a thought."

"I have two heats left and I need points," Takeru said in a hushed tone. "Don't know if I can do that."

Ken grimaced. "How sure are you that you'll still be alive for your fourth heat?"

Takeru processed these words for a moment, then tilted his head back, taking a giant swallow of his drink.


	46. Card Rack

Chapter 46: Card Rack

"No no no, keep it coming," Takeru insisted. "I'm serious, just...if you see the glass get empty, bring more, I...I'm doing something different today. Mixing it up. Just keep it coming, feel free to go down the menu, surprise me, whatever...I'll take care of you later, I promise."

"Takeru Ishida, in seat three, coming into his third heat with an...interesting strategy. Telling the waitress to keep the drinks coming."

"This is an advanced strategy, let's see if it pays off."

"You know the crazy thing is?" Ken said loudly, looking over at his friend. "His jack-high call last week? That was done while sober. So who the hell knows what he's gonna do today, you know?"

"He might stand up and take his pants off," Leonard Virgil suggested. "Would that disqualify you from the tournament?"

"Two point deduction," Takeru said. "One for each pant leg. Two point deduction, that's what it should be."

"Takeru is certainly one of the players that needs a big result today. He's got ten points, is looking up at quite a few players in the standings, probably needs at least top four just to have a chance in his fourth heat."

"Yeah, first or second would put him in a good position, third and forth are workable. Only guy at this table who can stand a bad result is Reggie Laak, seat seven, already sitting on twenty-three points. Whatever happens today, he'll be in reasonable shape to make the final table. Everyone else either needs a decent result or is already pretty much out of the running."

"I'm looking to gamble today," Takeru said, looking around the table. "Deeeefinitely looking to gamble it up. There's two point four million chips total at this table, I'm trying to win all of em today. If I ain't first, I'm last."

"Takeru's a bit more lively today than in his previous heats. Should be a pretty interesting show from the kid."

The first hand of the heat was dealt out to each player, Will Demps mucking seven four offsuit, and Takeru folding eight three offsuit.

"Not playing the first hand?" Ken chided. "What happened to looking to gamble?"

"Another fun dynamic here today, Ken Ichijouji in seat five, he and Takeru are, of course, best friends. These two know each other as well as anyone could ever hope to, they know each other's games extremely well, and that has to factor in to how they're going to play. Ken needs a good showing too, he's got eleven points after his first two heats."

OOO

"I never said I didn't know how to drink," Takeru stated loudly. "I just said I didn't drink while playing poker. Believe me, I can...I can drink!"

"I certainly hope so," Reggie Laak said cautiously. "Picking em up and putting em down over there."

"Hey, you know, the Premier League, it's a fun environment, I'm just trying to have fun," Takeru said. "You guys are just such a fun group to be around."

"One hundred and twenty-five thousand dollar buyin, his most important heat, and he's getting loaded up on Vodka...oh, to be a millionaire."

"We're only a few hands in," Will Demps pointed out. "Pace yourself, buddy." As he spoke, Demps put out five blue chips after looking at two red eights.

"We're still on the first level here, everyone's got...pretty close to their initial starting stack, Demps opens to five thousand from the cutoff. We still don't have a great grasp of how these players are approaching this heat."

"There's no point in going crazy yet, it's too early to risk too much, but...yeah, definitely, a couple of the players here basically need to win this heat to even have a chance at it for their fourth heat, and some people are definitely going to play very high variance."

Takeru, on the button, called with the king seven of hearts.

"Takeru's in, kind of a loose call with king seven suited."

"He's got position though, and he just needs to be able to not go broke if he just makes a pair. Also, it's possible that he's just thinking, I'm going to go for top two or bust. He might play high variance as well, just figuring...he doesn't want to just get fourth and then pretty much HAVE to win his last heat, he might just go for broke."

With the small blind folding, Ken tossed in three blue chips with five three of diamonds.

"Three-way flop, Demps leads with the eights. Demps has five points, he's one of the players who just kind of needs to finish first, so every pot he enters is very important to him."

Jack of clubs, two of diamonds, five of hearts.

"Eights are still best...Takeru's just got backdoor hearts, Ken's got a pair of fives and backdoor diamonds, backdoor straight as well."

"Check," Ken said quietly.

"Could be a pot of some significance between Ken and Will, both have to be pretty happy with that flop."

Will tapped the edge of the table a couple times.

"Will elects not to continuation bet, pretty interesting. He's a guy who tends to have a pretty good feel for things post-flop, he likes to do things like this. Don't think he's checking to fold."

Takeru quickly popped out one yellow chip with two blues.

"Takeru takes the betting lead with nothing going on, probably feels obligated to take a shot when it checks to him. It's a really dry flop, he can easily try to represent something like jack ten. Ken's not folding, I don't think."

"Twelve thousand?" Ken asked, looking over at the three chips Takeru had put out. "Yeah, I call."

"Ken's in, and...wow, Will just snap-folded. Folds the best hand. Really surprising."

"He probably doesn't want to make borderline calls so early in such an important heat for him, he needs...he needs double digit points, would hate to just call down against a jack. In fairness, there is a bet and a call in front of him, it's not great."

The dealer burned and turned over the six of diamonds.

"That's the ding-ding card for Ken, six of diamonds, makes him a straight flush draw. Takeru's still got squat, Ken's got over ninety percent equity, definitely not folding now for any reason."

Ken checked again.

"Yeah, back to Will real quick, I think he folded because Ken called, he would have called Takeru no problem, but...Takeru and Ken both getting in there, just feels like eights aren't good enough of the time."

Takeru tapped the table a few times as well.

"Takeru's just shutting down, I think, there's just...why get out of line so early when you don't have anything? He took a shot on the flop, didn't get through, just let it go."

The ace of diamonds completed the board.

"Ooh, there's the flush. Small flush for Ken, but Takeru's got king high, I'm pretty much positive Takeru's just gonna fold to a bet here. Still a decently-sized pot."

"Lucky for Takeru it wasn't the king of diamonds on the end there."

Ken pushed out three yellow chips, reaching into the pot to take back two blue chips. Takeru stared over at these three chips.

"This just feels like...posturing. These guys are good friends, he's probably just having a little fun with him, I just don't see him trying to make a move."

"If he makes a move, he'll probably have to raise to like...ninety thousand or so, and if you get called you're out a third of your starting stack, just...what's the point?"

Takeru began building a small stack of yellow chips.

"Oh, oh no, Takeru's painting a different picture here, he...I'm sure he's not gonna just call, this has to be a raise. Zero percent chance Ken folds, right?"

"Yeah, Ken's never folding this hand, even if Takeru just goes insane and ships, I don't think he can fold, I...I don't like this."

"Sixty-four thousand," Takeru announced, pushing out a small pile of yellow chips.

"Oh boy."

"Call," Ken announced immediately. "Call call call call call."

"Heh heh heh."

Takeru quickly turned over his king-high.

"You're so hopeless," Ken said jokingly, showing his five-high flush to the table.

"Well. I lost that pot," Takeru said flatly, reaching back to grab his glass again and take another drag from it.

"Surprised that Takeru didn't try to convince the table that he thought he had king seven of diamonds."

"Maybe he did. He is packing away those drinks pretty quickly. Anyway, Takeru now the low man on the totem pole, down to just over two hundred and ten thousand in chips. Not the start he wanted. Ken's at the top with over four hundred thousand."

OOO

"Alright, lemme...lemme see here," Takeru grunted, finally pushing out five yellow chips, two blue chips, and a green chip. "There we go."

"And Takeru is falling face-first into Ken's trap, that's a four-bet to fifty-six and a half thousand with six four of spades."

"Man, Takeru...really gambling it up in this first level. Tossing chips around like he's got a bunch more in his pockets he can pull out."

"He's playing like he only has two points or something, like, he knows he has to win the heat or else he's done. Ten points, really, you can play slow, get fourth, and it's not so bad. Surprised he's taken this approach."

Ben Jones flipped in four yellow chips, three blue chips, and a green chip after several moments.

"Wow, Ben Jones flats with Ken behind him, I hate that, that's...that's not what you want to be doing with a player behind you. Should have just gone all-in or folded, probably folding, king queen suited just...just doesn't play that well against these ranges."

"He's got Takeru in jail, they actually both have spades, but...Ken's got the big hammer here."

Ken looked back down at his hand. Ace of hearts, king of hearts.

"No chance Ken's letting this go, he's...now that Ben has flatted the four-bet, I think he's just gotta shove."

"Yeah, that's a bizarre flat by Ben, but...Ken must be sitting there thinking, what the hell can this guy have to flat Takeru's four-bet there? Like, really, the only hand he should be able to do it with is aces, right? And Ken's off to a great start here, getting it in against aces would be a disaster, he'd be down to...a little more than a hundred thousand chips."

"Doesn't matter, the hand's too good, if it's a cooler, it's a cooler, there's only one move he can make here."

"All-in," Ken announced, looking up at the dealer.

"There it is! Ken shoves, would put Takeru and Ben all-in to call, and...that can't possibly happen in either spot."

Takeru began counting his remaining chips.

"Oh my God, Takeru's...he's doing the hollywood. Come on buddy, save everyone the time, get rid of it."

"I kinda want to call with six-high," Takeru said, looking over at Ken. "Feels like ace king or something over there, not a terrible spot for me." Suddenly, his eyes flashed over to his immediate left, looking at Ben. "Oh, sorry, forgot you were in the hand too." Quickly, he tossed his cards over to the dealer. Ben was quick to do the same.

"Yeah, Ben's sick after that. Putting in nearly sixty thousand chips with king queen suited and then folding, just...bit of a disaster."

"You had six-high?" Ken asked as he took in a significant pot of multi-colored chips.

"I figure, I'm in okay shape against ace king, right?" Takeru said, scratching his forehead. "And you'd be so pissed at me for, like, the next six months if I called it off in the Premier League with six-high and beat you, it just might be worth it, you know?"

"Well...Takeru's strategy so far in this heat has been...uh, less than successful. He's been catching the bad end of the high-variance play so far, down to below two hundred grand."

"How have I doubled up already?" Ken asked, stacking his chips and counting them. "I've more than doubled up, we're...we're still on the first level, that's insane."

"Yeah, Ken's just thinking...how is everyone playing this badly? He's doubled up in twenty hands, people are almost just donating to him."

"Ken's our early chip leader, Takeru's the early short man, and both guys need points, so expect them to tangle up quite a bit down the stretch, despite being best of buddies."

OOO

"Takeru Ishida is...he's a special one," Ken started, eyes going down a bit towards the ground in front of him. "Yeah, he...hurts me to say it, but I love the guy. On the felt, he can be a pretty stoic person, but...you get to know him more personally, he can also be a ton of fun."

The small interview room provided little but an enclosed space for a single, solitary camera to get up close to someone's face. Ken looked back up.

"I'm really excited for today, a Premier League heat against him, that's...that's the kind of stuff we dreamed about as kids."

The perspective flipped to Takeru, in the same room, clearly an edited piece put together with the two young adults having given interviews at separate times.

"We both learned how to play at the same time, from the same person, so...we don't play the same, but we both know all the same things, and we're both very aware of how the other thinks. Levels on levels," Takeru explained. "Some of the hands we can play together can just get out of hand with all the leveling."

"It's just worked out to where we've been able to kind of do everything together, we learned together, we went to academy together, we turned professional together. It's been a great ride," Ken continued. "Obviously, the start to TK's career has been...impossibly good, he's done so much incredible stuff, it's been great to be a part of."

"I don't think people know how good Ken is yet, he's...he's very, very good. I think people will start figuring that out now that he's a Sienna champion, that tournament was a great example of how good he is at this game, I feel like that can...get his name out there in a big way." Takeru shrugged. "He's a great guy too, I mean...he slips out of the womb into a pile of hundreds of millions of dollars, like, beyond even someone like me, but...he's a really great guy."

"I'm not, I'm not ready to say he's better than me," Ken said with a tiny laugh. "Obviously, his professional results have been off-the-charts, but...I feel like I'm on his level. I'll say this, he's...I feel like he's run very well against me in our lifetimes. We're talking millions of hands played together, I feel like he's...gotten it over on me a lot. Hopefully it ends tonight. Be a good night for it to end."

OOO

"I'm all-in." Takeru delicately shoved his remaining stacks of chips past his cards.

"And this is juuuuuust the kind of spot Takeru was searching for. Flop a draw, get maximum fold equity, and hope the cards come up good."

"One hundred and seventy-eight total," Takeru added.

Ken quickly looked down at the queen of hearts and jack of diamonds, folding. "Knew I should have just checked it back," he mumbled.

"Yeah, this may very well end up bailing Takeru out, he's...he's called Ken's preflop raise with five deuce of diamonds, just hoping to get lucky, and he's flopped open-ended. Now he just wants to gamble against a pair or maybe just pick it up right here."

Davidi Shakerchi gave a small smile, looking down at the eight and seven of diamonds in his hand, then down at the board of the eight of hearts, three of diamonds, and four of hearts. "Are you kidding me right now?"

"Really, really tough spot for Davidi, I...he's another guy who needs points, and there's just no way Takeru is doing this without at least some kind of decent equity. Even if Davidi's ahead right now, which he is, it's still not a great spot, and losing the pot just kills you."

"You've played like...almost every hand so far today, you can have anything." He pushed out a loud breath. "Five deuce of hearts?"

"Well, he's close."

"The problem is, I'm one hundred percent sure I have the best hand right now," Davidi groaned. "I'm one hundred percent sure I'm best right now, but...I still can't call."

"Yeah, this is a nice move by Takeru, he's clearly just decided that he's ready to die here, and that can work really well if you get against opponents who aren't ready to die. These guys want to ladder up and get points, make sure they get top four, so gambling against the guy who's just going for it isn't great."

"I'm pretty sure he's got like...jack nine of hearts or something, I can just feel jack nine of hearts, but...I still have to fold." Davidi looked back down at his hand.

"I actually think that even if Takeru turns over his hand and shows the five-high, Davidi might still fold, weird as that might sound."

Davidi tossed his cards over to the dealer. "I know I had you, but...good ship."

"And the high variance has finally started to pay off! Takeru back up over two hundred and thirty thousand chips!"

"Yeah, I definitely had the worst hand there," Takeru agreed. "You had me big time." He turned his cards over.

"I still think I'd have to fold even if I knew you had that," Davidi insisted. "Like, you can show me five-high, I'm still probably folding."

A new hand was dealt out in short order.

"Hey, if you make a big hand, just come my way, I'm happy to...happy to make sure you get paid when you make a hand," Takeru said. "I'm going for it, you know? I'm here to be the pay off wizard." He looked down at the table next to his seat. "You know, I should probably eat something too, I'm drinking all of this vodka, gotta get something else in there too."

"He's, uh...he's playing the goofball tonight for sure. Interesting look for him."

"It's my small blind?" Takeru said, quickly tossing out a couple chips before turning away from the table. "Uh...turkey club and truffle fries."

"Please tell me you're going to use a fork for the fries," Ken groaned, folding his cards back over to the dealer.

"Yeah, obviously," Takeru replied. "That'd be gross."

"The flipside of all this, is that if Takeru ever picks up big hands, people aren't really going to believe him. He's just getting squirrely with so many hands."

Folds continued around the table.

"Still on the second level here. Ken's dominating the chip chart, in great position to have a huge result. Looks like it's folding all the way over to Takeru in the small blind, nobody has anything they want to play. Imagine Takeru is raising any two cards here."

Takeru turned back to the table, looking down at the king of clubs and king of diamonds.

"Ohhhh, yeah, he'll certainly be raising this. For Ben's sake, hopefully, he won't have anything in the big blind, because if he has anything of any interest, I imagine he'll call. Takeru's just...he'd raise here with so many different hands."

Takeru tossed one yellow chip in towards the dealer, then reached in and took back his small blind.

"And this is, like, this is the moment where playing like a crazy person might pay off, Ben Jones can easily level himself into making a move or...oh no."

Ben Jones lifted his head back up after looking down at the queen of diamonds and queen of spades.

"Oh NO! Ben's got the ladies, this could get really ugly."

"He's gotta raise here, there's...he can't just let Takeru in with a raggy ace or something, Takeru is raising anything when it's blind on blind, and I don't see how all the money doesn't just get in here. Ben needs points too, but...this is way too good of a spot to ever fold."

Ben tossed in three yellow chips and one blue chip.

"Thirty-one thousand from Ben, he's...he's got about one hundred thousand more chips than Takeru right now, so he'll still be alive whatever happens here. But this one could leave a mark."

"What's the wager from Mister Ben Jones?" Takeru asked, looking up at the dealer.

"Wow, uh...Takeru's really having some fun tonight. Kinda cool to see."

"Unless he gets really unlucky, he's gonna be...he should be like third in chips after this hand! He's played probably the worst poker of his career, and he's gonna be in third place after this! What is going on?!"

"Okay, the algorithm is working in my head," Takeru began, pointing both index fingers up at his head and whirling them around. "Okay, the algorithm says...raise, eighty-one thousand total."

"Any chance in the world that Ben gets off this? Maybe he can just flat and fold some flops?"

"No, he can't do that, that's...that'd be bad too, it's...this is just a cooler, he can't do anything but just get it in here."

Ben looked over at Takeru's chipstack, surveying it.

"The blind versus blind situations makes it so that both players are doing this with a lot of hands. Either player could easily have a rag ace, where they have a blocker and just decide they're going to push the other guy. And, clearly, Takeru's playing like a lunatic, he's clearly ready to go to war with just about anything, so I think you've just got to close your eyes and play queens like it's the nuts."

"All-in," Ben said.

"I call," Takeru announced, turning over his kings. Ben leaned back, swearing loudly.

"There it is! Takeru Ishida, weighed down by about four glasses of Vodka Pineapple Sodas, is on the verge of becoming one of the bigger stacks at the table!"

"Are you kidding me?" Ben groaned, tossing his queens face up on the felt. "I was just...just waiting for this, praying I'd wake up with something against him, and...gimme a break, man."

"How do you do it?" Ken asked, crossing his arms over his chest and looking up at Takeru as the blond got to his feet. "Like, do you even know what cards you have right now?"

"I-I knew I had kings!" Takeru insisted, pointing down at his cards. "Maybe I wasn't totally sure *which* kings I had, but I had kings."

The dealer slapped down the nine of diamonds, jack of hearts, and five of hearts.

"Nothing there for Ben, he's down to two outs. Maybe a...runner runner straight. Ten would be an interesting turn card."

"I mean...Takeru's playing as if he needs first place, but...third place, not that terrible. He could just slow down here after this hand, try to make sure he gets top three. Not out of the question."

"This was the plan, man," Takeru said. "This was exactly the plan." The dealer put down a two of clubs. "Plan, coming together."

"The plan was to get kings in the blinds when the other blind had queens?" Ken asked. "That's a really...that's a really advanced plan. I'm proud of you, that's...that's an incredible plan. You should feel really good about that."

"Man, what else can I even do?" Ben groaned. "He was just playing five deuce suited that last hand, how can I do anything else?"

"Yeah, Ben's...he played it right, just...bad timing."

Takeru jogged over to the bleacher seating around the table, going up to Hikari in the front row. "Alright, dollface, I don't even wanna look. You tell me if I'm good. Gimme the good news." He kept his back to the table, letting Hikari peer over the top of his head. "Tell me I'm good."

A king of hearts completed the board.

"You're more than good," Hikari said. "Now stop being such a goofball, and pace the drinks a bit." She reached forward and adjusted the collar of his suit jacket.

OOO

"How do I only have...one hundred and seventy thousand?" Takeru asked himself, bending down low to the table and counting his stacks. "Not even, actually, I...how did this happen?" He shook his head back and forth a few times. "Man, just playing moron poker, how am I stuck over a hundred grand now? So bad. I play so bad!"

"You just figuring this out?" Ken asked snidely. "Took you this long to realize this?"

"I think he seriously just can't remember how he lost some of those chips," Shakerchi said, grinning as Takeru surveyed his chip pile, seemingly looking for missing chips. "I think he actually doesn't even remember. He might not know where he is right now."

"Not a bad assumption, Davidi. Takeru's got less than fifteen big blinds left, needs to start making moves in the right direction. Ken still running away with this heat, he's got over nine hundred thousand, pretty staggering chip count. Only one player eliminated so far, a few more about to go out. Very...very interesting heat so far."

"Okay, okay, you know what? Wardrobe change." Takeru reached into his inside jacket pocket, his hand withdrawing back out holding a pair of silver swimming goggles, lenses reflective like mirrors.

"Dude, what...what are you doing?" Ken paused mid-peek at his cards to watch Takeru slip the goggles on the top of his head, pulling them down, placing the cups over his eyes.

"I gotta do something different," Takeru said, looking around the room after covering his eyes. "Okay, this is...this is good. This is gonna work out well for me, I can tell already."

"Why couldn't it have been a muzzle?" Ken muttered to himself, tossing his cards over towards the dealer.

"Heh heh heh heh heh...Takeru's got his superman cape on, apparently, he's mixing it up again."

"I'm all-in," Brock Cutting said quickly, after having a look down at the seven of spades and seven of clubs.

"And speaking of players about to go out, there goes Brock Cutting. Only had forty-four thousand chips left, which is less than four big blinds. Kinda had to do it, blinds are starting to get pretty serious here."

"Alright, one time, one time," Takeru said, looking down at the king of hearts and ten of hearts.

"Oooohhhh...decision?"

Takeru nodded his head a few times, then looked over at Brock, reflecting the image of his opponent back onto him with the mirrored lenses of his goggles.

"Wow, this is...really close. I mean, Takeru would love to knock a player out here, lock up sixth place for sure. Last thing he wants to do is give some life back to Cutting though, this...this is tough. I don't know what the right thing to do is. It's very cheap, his hand...he definitely would have raised this hand if it had folded to him, he might just gamble with it."

"Yeah, I'm all-in," Takeru said quickly.

"Yup, he's re-shoving, gonna hope to isolate Cutting, and...basically try to get a little lucky."

A few more folds ended the action, prompting Brock and Takeru to show their cards.

"Alright, hoping it would be something like that." Takeru got to his feet, jumping around back and forth. "Coinflip for ten big blinds, sign me up!"

"Getting in coinflips is your best chance of doing something right now," Ken teased. "Lord knows outplaying someone is out of the question."

"Like I said, guys, it's first or nothing for me," Takeru said, putting his arms up in the air as the dealer prepared to deal out the flop. "I'm going out in a glorious blaze, or I'm gonna...uh, do the other thing, you know?"

"King ten?" Brock said, squinting over at Takeru. "King ten? I mean, how much do you even have?"

"Not enough!" Takeru replied, pointing down at the chips Brock had just put into the middle. "I need those, I need more, that's why I called!"

Nine of clubs, five of spades, five of diamonds.

"Wow, GREAT flop for two sevens...Takeru's got runner runner straight, that's it. Not even backdoor hearts, wow."

"Takeru's down to ten big blinds if he loses this, this...man, he was third in chips not that long ago, I was saying that he could just slow down and wait for people to go out. Now HE might be the person other people are waiting for to go out."

Four of spades.

"Well, the deck is being very friendly to Brock, his sevens aren't being threatened at all."

"N-nice hand," Brock said, pushing his fist into his cheek and resting his head on it.

"Oh my God, so bad," Takeru grunted, making a disgusted face. "So gross, ugh, how do I lose this hand? Yuck!" He reached up to adjust his goggles.

"Brock, still not the most enthusiastic about the situation, despite his...sizable advantage equity-wise. Takeru seems to be settling into defeat. Man, what is even going on at this table right now?"

King of diamonds.

"OHHHH! There it is!"

Brock, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, nice hand," he said quietly, getting to his feet and grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair.

"Hey, everyone, you're welcome!" Takeru said loudly, turning back to look at the five other players still at the table. "We all locked up three points now, you can thank me at anytime! In any way you wish to express it!" He reached back for his glass of Vodka-Soda, shotgunning another large gulp.

"Six players left, everyone's got three points on lockdown. Takeru's back in fourth place with just over twenty big blinds. He might be drunk, he might not be able to see his cards with those goggles for all we know, but you still can't count the kid out!"

OOO

"Great bet by Ken right there, he got some pretty serious value out of just top pair. He's really been on point pretty much this entire heat, real impressive stuff."

"That's why you're a champion, you can make value bets like that," Jon Silas said, pushing his cards over towards the dealer. "Nice stuff."

"Ken Ichijouji still pushing way ahead of the pack here, over a million in chips. Davidi Shakerchi and Jon Silas still feeling pretty good about their prospects, and Takeru Ishida trails, only about fifteen big blinds left in his stack."

"Hey, Takeru, I...I meant to ask earlier, uh...I read somewhere you played basketball at academy?" Jon asked, turning over to the goggled young adult on the left side of the table. "Read somewhere that was, like, your physical exercise at academy, is that right? Were you good?"

"I was not good, but...yeah, I played a lot." Takeru nodded a few times as the dealer pushed out a new hand. "I wasn't good. Played a lot though."

"Kind of like poker," Ken joked, catching two cards underneath his hands.

"Yeah, like poker," Takeru agreed, pointing over towards Ken. "I just played a lot."

Silas folded his hand over to the dealer. "We should play, like, a one-on-one sometime. We should play, we could...get some cameras in there, see what happens, get the footage online."

"Yeah, I'm happy to play, we could...we could do that." Takeru swallowed down a bit. "Yeah, we could do like...a three point shootout or something."

Ken, meanwhile, looked down at the king of spades, and king of diamonds.

"Jon Silas played professional basketball for eleven years, retired ten years ago and took up poker. And...oh boy, Ken's on the button with kings! Keeps going his way tonight, another big hand in a position where people aren't going to believe him when he raises!"

"You a good shooter?" Jon asked.

"Uh...I don't know about good. Reasonable, I guess." He thought for a moment. "If there's no defense, probably like...sixty percent from the three point line."

"I...wait, what?" Jon's face wrinkled up a bit. "Sixty percent? No way."

"That's not...that's not that high," Takeru insisted. "Sixty percent, when there's no defense, that's...I think really good players can probably shoot like...seventy-five percent with no defense."

"Wait, it's the...it's the shortened three-point line, right? Not the...not the professional one?" Jon asked.

"Yeah, the...the one they use with teenagers, the shortened three point line. Sixty percent, that's...not really that good." Takeru bounced one of his yellow chips off the felt, bouncing it back up into his palm.

"I'd bet against that," Davidi said, looking over at Takeru from the other side of the table. "I'd bet you can't do sixty percent."

"Yeah, I'm on your side," Jon agreed. "Sixty percent, I'd...no."

"Ken LOVES this conversation while he's figuring out how to play his kings. Distracts everyone from what he's doing."

Ken tossed out two yellow chips and five blue chips.

"Ken finally makes a raise, pushes it to twenty-five thousand, barely more than a min-raise. He's opening everything, so nobody is going to believe he has anything, this...might get ugly for someone."

"W-we should go to a gym," Davidi suggested. "Go to a gym, do some shooting, see what you got."

"Y-yeah, I'm happy to," Takeru replied, nodding. "I'll bet...we'll do like fifty thousand dollars, I get a hundred shots, I have to make sixty of them." He shrugged. "Yeah, that'll be great, we...four days from now, we'll go to a gym."

"F-four days?" Davidi questioned. "Four days, why not right after this? Why four days? What's wrong with right now?"

Takeru looked over at Davidi for a few moments, mouth open a bit, looking slightly incredulous. "I...I've had a lot of vodka."

"Remember kids, don't drink and drive the lane."

"Oh, wait, it's on me!" Davidi said suddenly, realizing his cards were still in front of him mid-laugh. "Sorry, I..." he took a quick look down at his cards before folding them.

"So it's just Takeru on the big blind, and...oh, this might be bad."

Takeru looked down at the queen of clubs and nine of hearts.

"Aieeee...this might be just the kind of hand that he—"

Takeru quickly stacked all of his remaining chips into one column, then pushed this column forward. "One hundred and eighty, plus one," he said.

"Unfortunate, bit of bad timing on his part. Not a bad hand to push with, and he's pushing into the kings."

Ken looked over at this stack of chips, putting his hand to his mouth.

"Oh, oh no, he's...here's the slowroll, slowroll alert!"

"How much is it again?" Ken asked, looking up at the dealer. The dealer reached over to count through the chips Takeru had put out, Ken cracking a tiny smile from behind his hand as the count was done.

"Oh, he even asks for the count! He's going for the whole nine yards!"

Slowly, Ken reached down, grabbing his cards and prying them up. He glanced to his right over at Jon, allowing Jon to see his cards. Jon couldn't help but snort a bit as well. "Okay, I call," Ken said, tossing his kings face up on the board.

Takeru grimaced, turning over his cards as well. "Yeah, that's...pretty good."

"It's...it's him, I just can't help myself. It's TK, I just couldn't stop myself from doing it, you know?" Ken said, laughing lightly to himself.

"It's okay, bro," Takeru said, reaching over to take the last bite of his sandwich. "Don't worry, I knew as soon as you started tanking. Figured it was aces or kings." He stood up. "Been fun, guys, I...I wouldn't trade tonight for the world!"

"Nice ship, TK," Ken said, leaning forward towards the table so he could look at as Takeru bent down to start putting his shoes back on.

"I thought you were just opening everything," Takeru explained, looking back up over towards Ken.

"Oh, I...I definitely am. I'm totally opening everything, I just happened to have kings that time," Ken countered.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure I like the shove, I think...fifteen blinds, you CAN wait for a slightly better spot, queen nine offsuit, you can...wait a little longer, I think. Obviously, a little unlucky to run into the kings there, but...I dunno, I think he could have held on for a few more hands."

"P-please don't do it to me," Ken said, looking up at the dealer. "I know I deserve it for the slowroll, just...just please don't do it to me." He pointed over at Takeru. "He's been hurting me for years, he's been getting it over on me for years, lemme get a little bit back here."

"Yeah, that's true," Takeru conceded, grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair and throwing it over his shoulder. "It's okay, I'm alright, he...he deserves this one."

"Good news for Takeru is he will be getting fourth place if he goes out here, which is...it's workable, he can probably at least make the heads up if he wins his last heat. Not the position he wants to be, but he did just enough to at least have that chance. But...for the moment, eighty-eight percent of the time, he will be pushing the last of his chips over to his good friend."

The dealer dealt out a flop. Three of diamonds, nine of clubs, ten of spades.

"Okay, not a bad flop, it's less than eighty-eight percent now."

"Why do you have hope?" Ken asked, looking over at Takeru as he moved to the other side of the table, waving over towards the rail at Hikari. "How is there still hope for you, TK, what...what's even going on here?"

"Jack would be a great card, eight would be decent...come on, we've got to at least get a decent river sweat, don't we? The kid has been playing like a crazy person, he's been getting progressively drunker with every hand, I'm not convinced he can even see anything out of those goggles, and...he's made it this far, he's gotta at least make Ken nervous on the river, doesn't he?"

The ace of spades put eighty percent of the board out.

"That doesn't do anything, so...Jon folded a queen preflop, meaning there are two queens and two nines left in the deck, and that's it. Four outs, one card."

"Ugh," Takeru grunted, moving behind Ken and rapping him a few times on the arm. "Good playing, man, you guys, uh...you guys have fun three-handed. Guess I accomplished what I had to tonight, you know...I'm happy with it."

"He doesn't look like a guy ready to go home yet, I...he's having too much fun. Come on, the forces of the universe, they gotta conspire here, he's just gotta find a way to stick around, doesn't he? He's having way too much fun to go home."

"You can go work on your jumper now," Jon suggested. "Four days, right?"

The dealer, after burning a card, put down the nine of diamonds.

"DOH! Oh man, Takeru is BLESSED!"

Ken's face immediately fell, and he leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, that's...it's just really insane, how you run against me," Ken said, voice very flat, shaking his head as he began counting out chips. "Really, just, insane."

"Uh...well, I guess since I came all the way over to this side of the table...uh..." Takeru looked around, goggles reflecting the lights from the television crew in every direction. He leaned down towards Davidi. "Davidi, buddy, I get to keep gambling with you, you know I...I love that." He gave an awkward embrace around Davidi's neck. "T-that's the kind of action I'm gonna give, you know. I'm gambling here, that's...that's how I'm gonna play."

Davidi gave a few quick nods. "Uh, yeah, uh...that's great, buddy." Takeru stood back up straight, slowly meandering back towards his seat.

"Only you can take queen nine offsuit and beat me against two kings, you know?" Ken said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Like, no problem, just...yeah, two kings, not even a big thing, I'll just...I'll find a way." Ken rolled his eyes. "And it just...it never ends. It's never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER ends." He pointed down towards the felt. "I figured this would be a pretty good time for it to finally end, turn a little bit."

Takeru sat back down in his chair. "You had me big time, bro."

"Wow, and...that really shakes things up in this Premier League, Takeru just went from being on the brink to...who knows now, he's got thirty big blinds, he's third in chips! Silas especially has to be pretty sick about that, that was a great chance to improve his odds of being in the top twelve. Wow, what a river!"

Ken sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I-I mean, what can I even do, right?"

OOO

"Sometimes, math is idiotic," Takeru continued on, looking over at Ken and Davidi on the right side of the table. "You guys know what I'm talking about, when you pay wrong, you know you're behind, and you don't care because you just feel it?"

"Takeru Ishida with some...dubious poker lessons. Don't know if I'd be putting that line in his poker strategy book that he's inevitably going to write."

"Yeah, you guys know that feeling, I...oh, wait." Takeru suddenly looked down at the backs of his cards. "Oh, it's on me!" He pried the edges of his cards up.

"Three players left here in heat, thirty-four points still to distribute out, what happens next will go a long way in shaping this Premier League! Ken Ichijouji, nearly one point two million, well ahead of the pack. Davidi in good shape with three-quarters of a million. And Takeru, can't rule him out, a bit short of half a million means he can still play some poker."

Takeru tossed out a yellow chip and six blue chips.

"Well, he's coming out with the limp, he's limping the button. Mixing it up. Got the...queen ten offsuit this time, playable."

Ken, in the small blind, had a glance down at the ace of diamonds and nine of spades.

"This is probably a raise from the small blind, ace nine three-handed. Ken's still a big chip leader, still needs to play bully. I like, about...forty-five thousand, maybe."

Ken put out five yellow chips, taking his small blind chips back in the process.

"He makes it fifty, so a tiny bit more than three times the big blind, which I like. Little bigger than usual, I think it makes sense. And Takeru, I don't think he's limping to fold, so he's gonna call."

Davidi folded queen seven, putting action back to Takeru.

"I KNEW I couldn't get this limp through!" Takeru said loudly, turning back towards the spectators behind him. "I knew it! Nobody limps the whole day, nobody gets limps through, Ken won't allow it! So, I pick up a super-premium hand, and I limp with it!"

"Oh, man, he's just...he's too much, I...how great is it that he's still here? How great is it that he didn't bust out on that queen nine hand? He's gonnna see the footage of this tomorrow morning and just think...what? What was I doing?"

"I'm all-in," Takeru said, waving his arm forward.

"Whoooaaa, limp-shove! This might work, what's Ken gonna do?!"

"Like four-fifty something," Takeru added. "Four hundred and fifty thousand."

"Wow, what a weird spot for Ken, he's got...he's got the exact kind of hand that has to think about this, but I don't know if he can call! And if he does call, Takeru's gambling!"

Ken slowly turned back towards the table, scratching his cheek.

"I think you really have to admire Takeru's sickness. I mean, this is pretty sick. And he's...he's not afraid, he's just ready to die now. If Ken has ace jack and can't find a fold, alright, he...maybe he'll get lucky. But come what may, gotta admire it."

Ken continued to watch Takeru out of the corner of his eyes as he shoved the remainder of his chips in towards the middle of the table.

"I think Ken's folding this, he...wow, he's probably thinking, how embarrassing is it gonna be if he calls and Takeru turns over kings or something, you know? That's gotta be part of it."

"Yeah, even if...if Ken does find a call here, Takeru has...forty percent equity. Not that bad a spot, really. Not the worst."

"Hey, it's not too late for you to turn over aces for the best slowroll in the history of televised poker!" Takeru said, after concluding his push of several stacks of chips into the middle of the table. "Whatever it is, man, I'm ready. I'm okay, you know?"

"I don't have aces," Ken said quietly, looking back down at his cards. His mouth twitched a few times, then he gave a tiny shrug. "I call."

"Wow! Good call!"

Takeru quickly turned up his hand. "Okay, maybe not SUPER premium," he added. "Good call." Ken turned over his ace nine offsuit. "Wow, really good call, thought I could...talk you out of a hand like that."

"Oh, wow, very nice call, this one could hurt."

Takeru nodded a few times. "Good call."

"I already regret it," Ken said quickly, with a tiny smile on his face. "Against anyone else? Sure, but...against him?" He pointed at Takeru. "Against him, I have no chance. Sixty percent equity, may as well be six percent." He shook his head. "It's gonna be so gross to give you the chip lead."

"I'm not feeling this one," Takeru insisted. "I dunno, I think...I think it's about to turn." He circled the table, going around to the dealer, watching as she prepared to deal the flop.

Eight of hearts, eight of spades, three of clubs.

"Well, that's a...that's a bad one," Takeru said, standing back up.

"Wow, Davidi folded a queen, too, Takeru's...twenty-two percent now. Getting awful thin."

"Alright guys, I can work with nine points." Takeru quickly hustled back to his seat, grabbing his jacket again. "Nine points, good enough, you boys, you boys play good."

Nine of hearts.

"Ken picks up a pair of nines, but...actually a good card for Takeru, gives him a gutshot. Four extra outs."

"For whatever it's worth, queen ten was actually the best hand I've seen in a couple hours," Takeru insisted. "Maybe I...maybe I overplayed it a bit."

"Hey, that was a good card for you," Ken pointed out, gesturing towards the board. "Ten outs once, it's...it's not over. With you, it's never over. I mean, look at you. You won a bunch of tournaments, like, a million years ago and you're still famous somehow."

"Heh heh heh heh...little below the belt there, maybe. We'll see how the river treats us. Ten, jack, or queen."

Queen of diamonds.

"OHHHH!"

Takeru grabbed at his forehead for a moment. "Yeah, see, I...I plot the whole thing out, in my head. That's what people don't get! I'm on the snowboard, I'm going down the hill, I'm not even thinking about the first jump, it's already...like, I'm already thinking about the third jump, the first two jumps are just locked in, I'm thinking ahead!"

Ken shot Takeru an incredulous look, then leaned forward towards his chips, starting to push some of them in towards the dealer. "Insane, this is insane, this is just..." he glanced to his left and right, scowling. "This is just *insane*," he continued to mutter under his breath. He gave a quick glare over towards Davidi. "What, what even is this, this is just...this is just insane."

"Wow, look at...look at Ken, that's a man who is just tilted out of his mind right now. Look at him!"

"Hey, when you're a sick man, you just don't care, and...tonight, I just told myself, I'm gonna be as sick as I can. I'm gonna be the sickest player I know how to be," Takeru continued to deliver.

"Yeah, you're sick," Davidi said, unable to stop from cracking a smile.

"Yeah, you...you shoved queen ten into a guy who's raising everything, three-handed, yeah, wow," Ken said, a strong hint of snark in his voice. "You're *so* sick, I mean, we're in SHOCK over here, how can you be so sick?!"

"Heh heh heh, that's not even...he's not even joking around. He's honestly annoyed with Takeru right now. He's actually upset, which...I, he should be."

"Takeru is probably playing the worst poker he's played since...since he was like, six years old, and he's the chip leader with three left! He's got over nine hundred thousand! He might actually win this thing now! What in the world is going on?!"

Ken leaned back in his chair, slouching a bit, rolling his eyes. "It's just...this is just *insane*," he murmured.

OOO

A seven of spades completed the board on the river.

Ken sighed, standing up. "Jack plays, right? Alright. Good luck, boys."

Takeru reached over towards Ken, Ken raising his right hand up and flipping Takeru off in lieu of returning the gesture.

"Ohhhh man, Ken...yeah, he's not thrilled with third place. Even less thrilled with getting beat by a drunk."

Ken reached over and shook Davidi's hand before quickly departing the table.

"Hey, you know, we're gonna have to blur that out!" Takeru said, laughing to himself as he sat back down. "This is a family-friendly show!"

"It's like they say. There are no friends in a Premier League heat. So, Ken picks up nine points, so he's in...passable shape with twenty total and one heat left, but he's got to be a little disappointed. He seemed like he was primed to win this thing, was the chip leader almost the entire way, but lost a couple all-ins to Takeru."

"Alright, Davidi, I can take the hits now," Takeru began, looking over at his one remaining foe. "Second place, I'm in good shape going forward, if...if you're going to whack me now, I'm good. I've got a real chance, whatever you do to me next."

"And Takeru...playing like a lunatic, somehow, someway, he's heads up with a chip lead. He's stumbled his way into a great spot, and if he can take home the full fourteen points...wow."

Takeru looked down at the king of diamonds and six of hearts. "I'm gonna give action. You can see all the action I'm giving, if you...if you get a big hand, I'm ready to give action!"

OOO

"I call," Takeru said immediately, showing the queen of spades and king of diamonds.

Davidi gave a small shrug, nodding. "Yeah, that's...mmhmm." He tossed the nine of diamonds and eight of hearts up.

"Oh, wow, cooler!" Takeru jumped to his feet, throwing his arms up high in the air. "It's over, right? It's over? That's complete, right?"

"And it is OVER! Takeru Ishida, goggles and all, has officially obtained all two point four million chips on the table, and has taken home a full fourteen points to move up the Premier League standings!"

"Alright, good playing!" Takeru said, reaching forward to slap at Davidi's hand. "Hopefully I'll see you at the final table, bro." He lifted the goggles off of his eyes, blinking rapidly a few times at the sudden change in lighting.

"He also locks up an additional fourteen thousand dollars guaranteed in the prize pool, so given that he might be literally blind at the moment, pretty good night. Just please, don't let the kid drive himself tonight!"

"Alright, big guy," Hikari said, having jumped over the rail to go up to his side. She grabbed him by the shoulder. "Time to go before you hurt yourself."

OOO

~Takeru~

"Come on, buddy!" Takeru said loudly. Hikari was guiding him down the long, thin hallway, Takeru leaning a bit against her, arm propped across her shoulders. "That was good TV tonight! That's gonna play great for a national audience!"

Ken, the collar of his jacket hanging on his finger, draped over his back, just rolled his eyes. "Well, good for the national audience, they didn't have to...sit there and deal with you for an entire evening."

"You can NOT tell me you didn't enjoy at least some parts of tonight," Takeru continued. "Come on, don't be like that, you're up like...four million bucks on the last couple weeks. Don't give me that attitude."

Ken attempted to keep his expression flat, but ultimately couldn't resist cracking a small smile. "Y-you were very, very obnoxious tonight. Like, you do understand that, right? Are you still too drunk to realize that? Do you honestly think you were being...like, charming tonight?"

"Hey, I wasn't being obnoxious, the deck was!" Takeru protested.

Hikari winced a bit, leaning away from Takeru. "C-can you please not yell in my ear?"

"S-sorry," Takeru mumbled. "But seriously, it's not my fault I beat you with queen nine against kings, that's...that's the deck. I shipped with twelve percent, sometimes shit happens!"

Ken groaned to himself. "You were still annoying, deck or not. Please, just...watch the footage of the heat tomorrow and get back to me. You don't even know how bad you were."

"Maybe I...pushed things a little bit," he admitted. "But it was your idea! I *never* drink when I play cards, you gave me the idea, so...you're culpable! Take a look in the mirror, buddy!"

Ken slowed to a stop beside one of the many green doors in the long hallway. "Okay, okay, I...I apologize, I...I'm sorry I flipped you off on national television." He pulled a small keycard out of one of his jacket pockets. "That was uncalled for."

"Oh, don't apologize for that," Takeru rebuked quickly. "That was awesome, that's great TV." He lurched away from Hikari and came up next to Ken, leaning up against his friend. "But...you're over it now, right? We good?"

"Yes! We're good," Ken said, opening the door and quickly trying to duck away from Takeru. "We're...of course, we're good."

"Hey, you know...for a few hours there, I actually forgot that we're being hunted by the mob and are all probably going to be dead in a month," Takeru added. "So, if that was the goal of tonight, then...rousing success."

"If they happened to watch the heat tonight, they might stop bothering trying to kill you," Ken remarked dryly. "They might just assume you're going to drink yourself to death."

"Alright, big man," Hikari said, reaching down to untie Takeru's shoes. "You have never, in your life, needed to get to bed more than you do right now."

"Okay, mom," Takeru replied quietly. "Sure thing." Absentmindedly, he reached into his left chest pocket and pulled out his personal assistance, tapping it and scanning it. Suddenly, his wistful little smile faded from his face, eyebrows contracting slightly. "Hey...Ken?"

"Your mother's right, you need to get to sleep," Ken snarked.

"Koushiro called me...twice during the heat," Takeru said slowly, eyes narrowing slightly, darting along the surface of his device. "No, I'm sorry, three times."

Ken suddenly appeared from around the corner going into the hallway. "Three times?"

Takeru looked around the room vacantly for a moment. "Why would he call...three times if it wasn't important...Hikari, could you please—"

"Coffee coming up," Hikari said, rising up to her full height and quickly marching into the kitchen.

"I gotta sober up for this," Takeru said, voice deepening slightly as his carefree persona began to warp as the situation changed.

"You sure you don't wanna let it wait until the morning?" Ken offered, as Takeru scrambled over to the couch in the middle of the room and sat down.

"If it's something important enough to where he calls me three times, then I don't wanna waste any time," Takeru insisted, hearing Hikari click a kettle in the kitchen on.

OOO

"I didn't think you'd get on this so quickly," Takeru said loudly. A green rectangular personal assistant was placed on the coffee table in front of him, projecting audio in all directions from it's speakers. Takeru's own assistant was placed back in his pocket, turned off, Ken having run out to buy a new one in order to place this ever-important call. Ken and Hikari were seated on either side of Takeru, everyone paying close attention. Behind the couch, a small speaker was playing light ambiant music, just in case. Now was not the time to take chances.

"Well, you got me curious with the stuff you were saying, I couldn't just sit on that," Koushiro's voice rang through. "So yeah, I've been looking into Poker Hub ever since we parted ways last night."

"You already have something?" Takeru asked, sounding a bit incredulous. "Like, it's been twenty-four hours, maybe?"

"Yeah, a big something," Koushiro answered. "Shockingly big, and kind of obvious."

Takeru leaned forward, taking a sip out of a white circular mug. "Can you talk about it?"

Koushiro gave a dry little chuckle. "Given what I've found, I should probably share it as soon as possible before something bad happens to me."

"That big?" Ken asked.

"Yeah. You weren't kidding about this Paxson guy. Not that I had a high opinion of him before, but...so get this. Poker Hub doesn't use segregated accounts. They have one universal account for player funds, advertising, salaries...everything. It's all from one account."

Takeru's brow furrowed. "Why would a business do that? Any business, much less a...a huge one."

"They shouldn't," Koushiro answered.

Ken grimaced. "Okay, it's...sloppy, incompetent, possibly something that could earn a fine, but...I don't know how much we can use that." He thought for a moment. "We're talking, some officials get sent in to make sure segregated accounts get set up, there's some sort of penalty, and that's it."

"Oh, that's only the tip of the iceberg," Koushiro continued. "Sit down if you're not, and I'm a hundred percent sure on this one. There's less money in the account than the total value in player accounts. And it's just the one account."

Takeru's face wrinkled as he pondered this statement from Koushiro, looking as if he had just eaten something sour. "Wait, so...Hub doesn't even have enough money to cover player funds? I thought Hub was doing great."

"They are," Koushiro replied. "That's not the problem. Something else is going on. But the important thing is, if every Poker Hub account in the world decided to withdraw their funds tomorrow, Hub doesn't have enough money to cover it. And that *is* very illegal."

Ken's eyes widened a bit. "How short are they?"

Koushiro paused for a moment, only a barely-detectable hum from the connection audible. "Over three hundred million dollars."

"Holy hell," Ken mumbled to himself, reaching up to rub at his eyes. "How is that even possible?"

"How do you spend that much money on advertising?" Takeru asked rhetorically. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes," Koushiro insisted. "I'm not gonna go peeling through years of account statements, that would just look weird, but...seems to just be a very poorly-run company. Even if this is intentional, it's far too obvious."

"How has nobody seen this before?" Takeru asked. "If it's that obvious, how could this not have been picked up on a long time ago?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say a lot of the missing money became dividends for the stockholders," Koushiro answered. "And big salaries for the owners. Maybe nobody wanted to say anything, this was how they got paid. And anyone who would have just never looked. I've been sponsoring Hub for years and never even considered this as a possibility."

Takeru combed his fingernails through his hair. "Wow. Over three hundred million dollars, that's...that's an international-level case."

Ken gave a low whistle. "Yeah. Hub decides they want to make sure everyone's getting paid the maximum, dips into player funds a bit, it keeps happening every month, and...I mean, what kind of a moron lets it happen to this point?"

"This is it," Takeru muttered. "Holy shit, this is it! This is the way in!" He looked back and forth between Hikari and Ken. "We've got Ray Paxson by the balls with this, he's...he's toast." He looked back at the coffee table. "Koushiro, can you put together whatever you've found into a—"

"Way ahead of you," Koushiro reported. "As soon as I started uncovering this, I started putting together a packet. It's going someplace safe, away from me, I'm not just sitting on all this."

Takeru clapped a few times. "Alright! Alright, we...how do we use this?" He stood up, spinning around, looking over towards the kitchen. "Okay, we...we call a meeting with Paxson, or...maybe Koushiro does. We can get the authorities involved, this is definitely big enough. We tell him that...his only way out is to spill something good on Gandolphini, they're old friends, right? He could easily have something concrete, something...really big, maybe." Takeru rubbed at his forehead. "Forget scaring the old man, we could take him down. If Paxson has the goods, we could end this forever."

"That's optimistic," Ken replied. "But...maybe so. When word of this gets out, Hub is getting shut down immediately, and there won't be enough money to cover the players." Ken's eyes bulged a bit. "Who knows what kind of person this Paxson is, but...I think we deserve a bit of a break, he might be the kind of person who sells a friend out to avoid a few decades in prison."

"This is his weakness, we found it!" Takeru said, stepping in front of Hikari, out towards the main area of the room. "He's got a friend who's an idiot, he gave him some power, and he's abused that power to the point where he's going to completely bring down the biggest online poker website in the world. This...this is the path. Get Paxson to spill on Gandolphini, Gandolphini's out of the way, and...if my father's deal ends up getting spilled out on the process, then...they'll let him off. They have to go easy on him if his son brings them the biggest name in organized crime, right?"

"Crazy enough to work," Ken summed up. "Bold, ambitious, but...I'm no longer quite so concerned about finalizing my last will and testament anymore."

"Okay. Tomorrow morning, we fly to Verma. Koushiro, you on our page?" Takeru looked back down at the personal device.

"I'll help you," Koushi agreed. "But my main concern here is exposing Hub. I don't want this to get out and get lumped in with all the other owners who didn't care about this."

"Hub's getting exposed," Takeru assured him. "Koushiro calls a meeting with Paxson, public place, under some false pretenses." He pointed over towards Ken. "There's a high roller event that starts in two days, so we have a perfectly normal reason for being in Verma anyway. But we'll be there with Koushiro. And we'll make it very clear how much trouble he's in, and that his only way out is to give us Gandolphini. We'll bring in the authorities, make sure he's protected." He gave a small head tilt. "And then...then we hope."

"Finally, actual hope," Ken said, standing up and extending his coffee cup out towards him. "Hey, maybe I was wrong. Maybe you should keep drinking." 


	47. Perfect Perfect

Chapter 47: Perfect Perfect

"No, I had plenty of fun," Takeru said, grinning up over towards Tom Thomas across the table. "I had plenty of fun, but I'm still not ever doing it again. That's just not how I do things."

"Too bad," Tom replied. "With how you're playing right now, imagine how you'd be playing if you got some booze in you. I kinda would like to see that."

"Tom Thomas is referring to the recent...Premier League heat that Takeru played in. Takeru got very drunk, played like a maniac, and ended up winning the thing. Takeru NOT drunk today, still playing like a bit of a maniac."

"Yeah, but, there's a difference to be sure. He's certainly being a much more mathematical maniac today, picking his spots well, making great reads. So far, it's working out very well for him."

A couple of folds kicked off the hand, going around to Takeru in the cutoff.

"For those of you just joining us, welcome to the early portions of the Sienna Poker Tour Verma Gran Finale High Roller event. Perhaps the most prestigious High Roller event in the world, we had a staggering nine hundred and fifty-nine people show up and put in twenty-five thousand dollars to enter today. More than double what the average twenty-five grand tournament gets. Notoriously unforgiving, only the top ten percent of participants get money in this event. We're just a couple hours in, on the second blind level."

After considering the eight and seven of hearts, Takeru fired out one green chip.

"Takeru's in with the suited connectors, he raises to five thousand. Blinds are one thousand and two thousand, two hundred chip ante. Takeru's aggressive style so far has been successful for him, he's got one hundred and sixty-seven thousand in his stack."

The button folded eight three of clubs, the small blind folded jack nine offsuit, and the big blind considered queen five of diamonds.

"Jake Rogers contemplating entering the pot with a pretty marginal hand. Of course, when you're Jake Rogers, and you have an absolutely staggering three hundred and seventy-seven thousand chips, you can afford to play some marginal holdings."

"Yeah, Jake is the chip leader of the whole tournament right now, nearly two hundred big blinds. He can afford this, and Takeru is deep enough that it could be a big payday if he makes a hand. Plus, Takeru has been so aggressive today, that you don't want to just give him credit for a big hand just because he's raising."

Jake took back his big blind of two purple chips, tossing in one green to make the call.

"Twelve-thousand eight hundred in the middle. One of the bigger stacks in the room against the biggest."

The dealer put down the seven of diamonds, eight of spades, and six of diamonds.

"WHAT a flop! Top two pair for Takeru, and a queen-high flush draw PLUS an open-ended straight draw for Jake! You want action, we've got action here, between some pretty deep-stacked players!"

Jake reached down for some chips, casually throwing in one green chips.

"Jake Rogers donk-bets into Takeru, and he bets small, only five thousand. Bit of an unusual play, standard play would be to check and let Takeru continuation bet."

"Most likely, Jake is hoping that Takeru reads the donk-bet as weakness and raises, which Jake can then re-raise. With a draw this strong, he's clearly willing to play a monster pot against just about any hand that Takeru could have here."

Takeru stared over at Jake intently, crossing his arms over each other on the edge of the table.

"Now, Takeru's got top two pair. But Jake could have flopped a straight, be donking to induce a raise, put Takeru in an uncomfortable position. So he COULD raise, but all things considered, he could very reasonably just flat and see a turn. Jake's a very good player, he's not going to be donking there with something weak, and Takeru should be aware of that."

Takeru tossed out a green chip as well.

"And he does just call! Fun fact, we currently have a coinflip here, both players have about fifty percent equity in this hand right now."

The turn card, an eight of diamonds, took all the years of training of both players involved to not provoke physical reactions.

"My GOODNESS, eight of diamonds on the turn, Takeru holds eights full of sevens, and Jake has made his queen-high flush, with a redraw to a straight flush!"

"What an unfair card, Jeffrey. Jake Rogers makes a huge hand against a crazy aggressive opponent, and he's practically drawing dead! In fact, Shaun Mcintosh folded the nine of diamonds, so the only card that can give Jake the winner is the four of diamonds!"

After a few seconds, Jake grabbed two green chips and two purple chips, clattering this small collection forward into the pot.

"A little bit bigger from Jake this time, that's twelve thousand. A little more than half the pot. Hoping Takeru has a straight, or perhaps a smaller flush. But Takeru's got the hammer, and his aggressive play so far today is about to really pay off."

Takeru took some time to stare down at the pot of chips.

"Yeah, Takeru's got a full house...but there IS a straight flush out there. Nine ten of diamonds, nine five of diamonds, five four of diamonds, would all have Takeru drawing stone dead. I don't think he can play too scared here, but he's not quite in the catbird's seat."

Takeru got out six green chips, three purple chips, and four white chips. He pushed the small tower out.

"That looks like a raise, thirty-three thousand four hundred total! This pot is swelling, and we could have a big change on the leaderboard when this is over. I have a feeling this one could make the highlight reel."

Jake put his hands up over his mouth as the dealer counted out the raise.

"And I don't think Jake can get away from a flush here. Takeru's been playing a little too aggressively to fold a hand this strong. But if he doesn't get away from it, he's going to relinquish his chip lead over to one of the best players in the field."

Rogers finally did toss out a couple green chips, following it with a purple one and four white.

"We're off to the river. The four of diamonds is the only card that can save Jake here, although there are some cards that might get him to fold and save some of his stack."

"Ninety thousand chips in this pot, Takeru's got one hundred and twenty-three thousand behind."

Two of hearts.

"Well, there's about the most irrelevant river card possible. Deuce of hearts obviously changes nothing, Takeru's got the best of it with eights full of sevens, Rogers still holding the queen-high flush."

"I check," Jake said quietly.

Takeru reached down towards his stack, counting out green chips.

"Takeru could bet small here. Like fifty thousand, and I think Jake would be forced to make the call because of the price. Or he could go for big value, try to make it look like a bluff, and hope Jake levels himself incorrectly."

Takeru pushed out a stack of green chips, sixteen chips high.

"He is going for the latter, that is a bet of eighty thousand! Nearly the size of the pot, this is a polarizing bet, and puts Jake to a very tough decision."

"Well, the good news is I'll be making the highlight cut no matter what," Jake said quietly, with a smile. "I would have folded against almost anyone else."

"Even against a player who is playing as aggressively as Takeru is today, Jake's queen-high flush can only beat a bluff. How often is Takeru bluffing, and more importantly, is he bluffing here?"

"This would be a spot for the move," Jake added. "I knew the move was coming. Worried this could be it."

"If Jake calls, he'll be down to two hundred and fifty-three thousand chips, so he'll still be very deep. But he'll be giving up the chip lead to Takeru, not really something you want to be doing."

Jake finally tossed in a green chip.

"Jake can't get away from it!"

Takeru turned over his full house, prompting a quick nod from Jake.

"Yeah. That'll do it."

"And Takeru Ishida just went from just under ninety big blinds to close to one hundred and fifty bigs, what a pot, what a hand, this could go a long way in shaping the rest of this tournament!"

"When you're a player as successful as Takeru Ishida, and you play in tournaments every week, you often tend to go for broke early on and try to build a big stack, knowing that you can afford to risk busting out early. Well, Takeru just built the big stack, the rest of this table should be on notice."

"Almost just shoved the river," Takeru said, beginning to stack his new chips. "Thought about it pretty hard."

"I would have probably called," Jake admitted. "Can't just let you run me over all day."

OOO

"We've got a very special treat for all the viewers here at table number four. Just entering the booth right now, twenty-year-old poker prodigy, World Series of Poker and Sienna Poker Tour champion, Ken Ichijouji. How are you doing, sir?"

"Not too bad."

"Ken just min-cashed, was eliminated a couple minutes ago. Ninety-ninth place, good for a touch over forty-five thousand dollars. Obviously, you don't...play poker for two days for a twenty thousand dollar profit, especially when you're someone like you, but...better than nothing."

"Yeah, not...not my goal coming into this tournament, but...it's a very tough tournament. The field is filled with great players, making the money isn't easy. Making the top one hundred isn't easy. I can hold my head high."

The dealer slowly flipped out cards to each player around the table.

"Ken's here to tell us what he thinks about the play of his best friend, still very much alive in this tournament. One of the chip leaders, in fact. Ninety-seven players left, average stack is nearly one million. Blinds are eight and sixteen thousand, two thousand ante."

"Yeah, we talked a bit last night after the first day, he...he told me that he felt like playing high-variance, ultra-aggressive poker made the most sense for him right now. Obviously, he's almost always aggressive to a point, but he can certainly switch gears from time to time."

Randy Valentino, in the lowjack, held the queen of diamonds and queen of spades.

"Randy's got queens! He's on a stack of less than half a million, so about thirty big blinds. Gotta start moving in the right direction, he's got a hand to do it with."

Randy put in three black chips, a green chip, and a purple chip.

"Thirty-six thousand, standard raise. Gets a couple immediate folds, over to Takeru on the button. Takeru's the table chip leader, he's got one and three-quarters of a million in chips, more than one hundred big blinds."

"Yeah, that's a...pretty insane stack."

Takeru held the king and ten of hearts.

"Takeru won't be folding this in position for less than two and a half blinds."

"Yeah, TK...it would be better if Valentino had more chips, this hand plays better when everyone is deep, but I have to believe TK's flatting. He's playing aggressively enough to where this is in the upper half of his range."

"Plus he's suited."

Takeru quickly made a small stack of chips identical to Randy's raise, tossing it out. "Thirty-six thousand total, right?"

After the small blind folded, Christian Ronaldo had a look at the nine of hearts and eight of hearts.

"Ronaldo's got one hundred blinds in his stack as well, one point six million. Great hand to take a flop with, though he really doesn't want to see hearts."

Christian tossed out two black chips in short order.

"Three to the flop. Randy's got over half the equity with his queens."

The flop came out queen of hearts, eight of clubs, four of clubs.

"Make that over NINETY percent of the equity! Queen eight four, Randy flops the nuts with a set of queens. Ronaldo's got middle pair, Takeru's missed."

"Yeah, good flop for the short stack, although he might not get too much out of his opponents. Might get one bet out of Ronaldo."

Ronaldo checked, tapping the felt a few times.

"I usually don't like it when players do this kind of thing, but in this particular instance...I don't hate a check from Randy."

Randy sat there, stock-still, staring down at his chip stack.

"What makes you say that, Ken?"

"Well, a lot of players...particularly amateurs...when they make a huge hand, they play extremely passively, they check, they try to trap. I usually don't like it, I think that when you have the betting lead and flop huge, you should try to build a pot. But in this case, he's got the board pretty crushed, there's only one draw that can really give him action, and most importantly, TK's on the button."

Randy checked silently.

"TK's been playing so aggressively today, it's...it's very likely that he's going to bet when it checks to him like this. Very high percentage that he takes a stab at it. So I'm actually liking this check, it's probably the only way you can get chips out of TK."

Takeru reached down towards his stack, picking up a handful of chips.

"Looks like a stab is coming, Takeru's going to bet with his king high. I think he's getting called in both spots."

Takeru put out four black chips along with a green chip and three purple chips.

"Very small bet. Forty-eight thousand into a pot of one hundred and thirty. Although at this stage of the tournament, chips are pretty precious, so...a bet that size is still significant enough to matter."

"TK actually has some backdoors. Backdoor hearts, backdoor straights, has a little more than five percent equity. He's actually much more likely to win this hand than even Ronaldo, who has less than two percent."

Ronaldo, meanwhile, shuffled chips around, staring over at Takeru.

"I don't think Ronaldo's folding. Takeru, he's been playing so many hands and bluffing with such a high frequency, that middle pair is enough to call at least once."

"It's not great, you've got a player behind you. I mean, it doesn't LOOK like Valentino has anything, it looks like he has...ace king and is giving up, but it sucks if you call and then Valentino raises."

Ronaldo tossedo out two lavender chips.

"Those lavenders are worth twenty-five thousand each, so it's a call."

Valentino, after this call, took several long seconds to contemplate his move.

"Ken, let's just go ahead and discuss the elephant in the room, you and...you and your buddy got into it at little bit in the Premier League heat a couple days ago. You wanna talk about that?"

"Uh...heh heh, he just got on my nerves a little. He was being annoying, and...it got to me a bit. I just...I don't know how you win every all-in, how you get it in with the worst hand every time, and then win it anyway, just...I can admit it, he got to me a little bit. We're both competitive, we were playing for a lot of money, he was...very, very drunk. It happens."

"So you two are fine now?"

"Of course."

Valentino tossed out one lavender chip, chasing it with a second one.

"Valentino just calls the bet. So three players to the turn. Ken, do you like that?"

"Well, whatever he does, it looks pretty strong with a bet and call in front of him. I mean, I suppose...calling there could mean that he just has a hand like jacks or tens and wants to see a cheap turn card, but...it's very clear he has something when he calls. In a way, it almost looks stronger than a raise, because a raise could be a bluff."

"Not like he has that much to be afraid of right now. A club wouldn't be great, but even then he's drawing live, and...with his stack, whatever happens, he's getting it in."

"Yeah, and obviously, I have to believe a raise ends the hand. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, there's already a pretty nice pot out there, but...he's want to give himself a chance to win a huge pot. I think it's okay."

The jack of hearts came down on the turn.

"Wow! So, Ken, about those backdoors you were talking about. Suddenly very relevant."

"Oh, wow, this is...this could be a huge pot. TK just turned the whole damn world. The draw to end all draws."

Ronaldo checked yet again.

"Over one quarter of a million in this pot, guaranteed to be going up here. We've got top set for Valentino, Ronaldo's holding third pair, a nine-high flush draw, and a gutshot straight draw, and Ishida's got an open-ended straight flush draw which INCLUDES a royal flush draw!"

"These are the kinds of pots that determine who wins tournaments. Whatever happens here, someone's about to...have a pretty huge boost in chips."

"I'm not a fan of donk betting on principle, but...there's a strong argument for Valentino to just bet out here. Maybe just shove."

Valentino checked again, putting the action onto Takeru.

"See, the problem is...this board has gotten extremely wet now, SO many bad cards can come on the river, and...it's a risk, because, if TK checks behind here, it's a total disaster for Valentino. Because then, he's not charging the draws, he might not get action on the river if the draws miss, if the draws hit he loses, it's...it's a huge gamble."

Takeru, after taking a few beats, began to again put a bet together.

"Luckily for him, I do believe TK will bet here. He just picked up such a huge draw, his opponents haven't shown extreme strength yet, he's got king high, it's...I think it's smart."

Takeru looked over towards Randy. "How much do you have?"

"Takeru wants a count. By our graphics...Randy's got a bit less than four hundred thousand left."

"Three hundred and...eighty-eight," Randy said after a moment. "About that."

Takeru grabbed five lavender chips, adding one black and one purple to complete his bet. He placed these chips atop the button in front of him.

"Fires again. One hundred and thirty-six thousand. I don't think anyone is going anywhere."

"Yeah, and...if the river card is a heart, then...holy hell, Ronaldo is in for a pretty serious hurting. Particularly a heart that doesn't pair the board."

Ronaldo slowly considered this bet, glancing back and forth between Takeru and Randy.

"Slightly off-topic here, but Ken...do you realize that you're now two-thirds of the way towards being a triple crowner? The fourth triple-crowner in the history of poker?"

"I may have read...one, or two, or a few dozen internet articles about it."

"Heh heh...only three players in the history of poker have won a World Series of Poker bracelet, a Sienna Poker Tour championship, AND a World Poker Tour championship. Ken, at the ripe age of twenty, has done the first two."

"I actually looked it up a little, it's...it's always the World Poker Tour that people can't hit. Seems like a lot of people have done the first two, but...for whatever reason, the last one is tough."

Ronaldo tossed out a few lavender chips.

"Ronaldo calls with his pair-and-draw combination. Ken, is the triple crown something you're going to go for?"

"Well, obviously, I'm playing in as many tournaments as I can. Some of those will be W.P.T. events, but...every tournament is important to me, the triple crown is just a fun little statistic. And I'm young right now, so...I'm going to play in every tournament I can get to. If it happens, it happens."

Valentino shuffled a stack of chips around in front of him.

"Five hundred and forty-six thousand chips already in this pot, Randy has...less than pot behind. For whatever it's worth, Valentino no longer has the nuts, ten nine would now be the nut straight, but...there's only one move here, right Ken?"

"Anything other than a shove here would be terrible by Valentino, there's...this is a crazy-wet board, he's got the second nuts right now, it's...he's gotta go with it. If someone gets there on the river, then so be it, he can't let them get there for free."

"All-in," Valentino announced.

"There's the shove, so it's gonna be...it'll be an additional two hundred and fifty-two thousand on top of Takeru's initial bet."

Takeru watched the dealer parse out Randy's chips, getting the official count.

"Pot is nearly one million now, so...Takeru's almost getting four-to-one on his money here. No chance he folds this, right?"

"He's getting about the right price here, plus...Ronaldo has so many chips, he's got some implied odds if he can hit and get action. Also, he's still got a ton of chips. Can call, still have over seventy-five blinds behind if he bricks out and folds the river."

Takeru tossed out one lavender chip, then started to construct a few stacks of black chips to complete his call.

"It's very unusual to see a pot get played out like this. Very rare that you would see two calls in this spot, but that's...that's almost certainly what's going to happen."

"Yeah, Ronaldo...not much value in raising here, since someone's already all-in. If you're Takeru, that's the one thing about this that might kind of suck, if Ronaldo were to raise now."

"Yeah, but that happens pretty rarely given the action so far."

Ronaldo put out a stack of ten lavender chips, then added two purples atop it.

"There's nearly one and a half million in the middle, Valentino is eligible to win all of it if his set of queens holds on the river. Meanwhile, Ronaldo still has one point one million chips behind, and Takeru has even more than that, so there is potential action in a side pot."

"I'm thinking of a fun card."

The dealer put down the ace of hearts.

"OH MY GOD! ACE of HEARTS on the river, and what a DISGUSTING runout for the flopped nuts! Christian Ronaldo has made his flush, the third-nuts, but Takeru Ishida has made the stone nuts with a ROYAL FLUSH!"

"That was, uh...that was the fun card."

Ronaldo reached down towards his stacks of black chips.

"Valentino should probably start packing his bags right now, he's gotta realize...that was the worst card in the deck for him, and a set of queens is never good here. And as for Ronaldo...this is gonna be REALLY interesting."

Christian finally pushed out a full stack of black chips, along with ten more alongside it.

"That is a very small value bet from Ronaldo, three hundred thousand into a pot of nearly one point five million. Obviously, a bet for value, and everyone knows it. No point in bluffing when Valentino is already all-in."

"Yeah, Takeru loves that. Very obvious now that Ronaldo has a very good hand. Clearly, Takeru's going to raise here, and now he knows that Ronaldo will at least consider calling. Ken, how much are you raising from Takeru's seat?"

"I think that any raise at this point is...very, very strong, and basically implies the nuts. So, going all-in is reasonable, he may as well go for all of it since any raise indicates extreme strength. I suppose that...clicking it back to six hundred thousand...it's easier to call if you're Ronaldo, since you can call, lose, and still have thirty-four blinds left. Ultimately, I feel like Ronaldo is probably folding to the raise, but he might...he might get sucked in by a good price."

Takeru looked back down at his cards for a few moments, then back over at Ronaldo.

"You think Ronaldo is folding to a raise?! I...he's got the third nuts against a guy who's been ultra-aggressive, I—"

"I'm all-in," Takeru said, taking a handful of chips and putting them past his cards.

"And there's the shove! Takeru Ishida has gone all-in, which puts Ronaldo all-in to call, and we have a tournament-shaping pot in the making here! Takeru's winning the pot for sure, the only question is, how big is that pot going to be?!"

"Wow," Ronaldo said, turning away from the table in disgust. "Wow."

"Wow is right, and...I don't think he can fold. Ken, you seem to think he can fold, what...what does he have to tell himself to fold this?"

"You have me covered, right?" Ronaldo asked, looking over at Takeru's stack. Takeru nodded a few times.

"I'm not sure he will fold, but, when TK shoves here...it's super-polarizing. Basically nuts or nothing. Like, he's not ever doing this with the five-high flush or the six-high flush, that's insane, he'd never do that."

Ronaldo ducked his head down, looking down at his remaining stack, counting.

"So, either TK has...the nuts, or he has nothing. And he can't have nothing, because Valentino is already all-in and you can't bluff him. TK's not going to risk basically his tournament to try to win the side pot with a bluff, that's beyond absurd. So, therefore, by process of elimination, TK can only have the nuts."

"I still have over fifty blinds," Ronaldo muttered to himself. "Slightly below tournament average."

"I'm not saying it's an easy fold, but it's clearly correct. It hurts, but he has to do it."

"The insane thing is, Takeru's probably not calling preflop with something like...king seven of hearts or king six of hearts, so really...if your evaluation is correct, Ken, then the ONLY hand Takeru can have here is a royal flush."

"Yes, it's definitely crazy, but...that's what it is. He's got the nuts, that's all there is to it. You've still got chips, the money bubble just burst, you don't want to just min-cash if you can keep going with fifty blinds!"

"I know you're a sick player," Ronaldo said. "I know you've been...I know how you've been playing this tournament, but...I don't know. You might be sick enough to do this."

"What if...what if Takeru is sitting there with the five-high flush, believes he has Valentino beat, but thinks Ronaldo has him beat with a higher flush, and needs to bluff Ronaldo out so he can beat Valentino and win the pot?"

"That's an insane parlay of circumstances, and...Takeru's got too many chips to be taking THAT kind of a chance. I mean, if Takeru doesn't have the nuts, for all he knows, Ronaldo's got the nuts."

Ronaldo swallowed down hard. "I don't know if I can fold. I don't know if I can call either. I kinda just want to...fly out of here through the roof so I don't have to make a decision."

"There are already two point nine MILLION chips total in the pot. If Ronaldo calls, three and three-quarters of a million will be in there, all of which will head over to Takeru Ishida. He would have two hundred and forty-one big blinds, that's...unheard of for this stage of the tournament."

Ronaldo tossed one of his chips in.

"That's a CALL from Ronaldo, he can't get off it!"

Takeru flipped over his king of hearts and ten of hearts, causing Ronaldo to immediately wince.

"Randy Valentino and Christian Ronaldo have been royal flushed out of the tournament! They will both cash for over forty-five thousand dollars, but this HURTS!"

"Yeah, this is a pretty disgusting one. Randy flopped the nuts, tried to slowplay a bit, let Takeru sneak in through the back door. Christian rivers the third nuts, crashes into the super-nuts, can't get off it. What a hand!"

Randy reached underneath his chair to grab his bag, a look of thinly-veiled disgust on his face. "Why didn't I just...why not just bet the damn flop?"

"Randy's beating himself up a bit, un-necessarily. He played very well, got in a lot of chips with top set, and just got exceedingly unlucky."

"Hey, if I'm gonna go, I guess I'd rather go out via a royal flush than anything else," Christian acknowledged, nodding. He reached across the table, shaking hands with Takeru. "Good playing."

"Two hundred and forty-one big blinds. Quadruple the average stack right now. This is NOT the person you want to be giving the big stack to right at the end of day two."

"I...I'm not saying he is going to do this, but Takeru can basically sleepwalk to the final table at this point. Which is insane to say with over ninety players left, but...look at his stack!"

OOO

~Takeru~

"Two hundred and forty freaking blinds," Takeru muttered to himself, hunched over slightly at the counter, a glass of soda in front of him.

"Easy game when you make a royal flush," Ken commented. "That was right as I got into the booth too."

"Christian had a flush too, right?" Takeru asked. "He didn't turn over his hand, was it like...eight seven of hearts?"

"Nine eight," Ken answered. "Nine eight of hearts. I was saying in the booth he should have folded it, but...I know it's tough."

"I was doing my best to just keep quiet, I thought...if I don't say anything, maybe it'll look like I'm trying to pull off some absurd bluff that nobody would ever do. I didn't think he was gonna call, what...what can you call with?"

Ken shrugged. "I guess he had the best hand he could possibly have with card removal."

Takeru smiled. "It's almost not fair. I'm playing so aggressively, and then I catch the good end of two massive coolers like that."

"Almost?" Ken repeated. "No, not almost. That stuff, especially today, was straight up unfair." He sipped from a glass of water. "I mean, I know I said he should have folded, and he should have, but...still. That's gross."

The atmosphere was a good deal more casual than the restaurants Takeru was familiar with. He was surprised how much he noticed how much brighter the colors were in a place like this, everything seemingly white. He took a moment to ponder the connection between darker colors and wealth, wondering if there was some sort of meaningful connection there. Takeru and Ken were up by the bar, doing their best to blend in as typical patrons. Behind them, at a small table, Koushiro was seated alone, fidgeting around with a bottle cap between his long fingers. The wait was on.

Takeru felt the weight of the moment. His future most likely rode on the next half-hour, on the mental fortitude of a man he had never before met, on the performance of him and his friends, on things he had so little ability to control. It was a good plan, on paper, in theory, in his mind. But despite all of that, it still took an awful lot to actually get it to all work.

"So, big stack bully all day tomorrow, right?" Ken asked.

"Obviously," Takeru answered. "If I don't get at least...fifth in this tournament, it's a disaster." He gave a small shrug. "Hell, if I don't win this thing, it's kinda bad."

"Kinda early for that kind of talk," Ken countered. "So you ready for this?"

Takeru grimaced, body seemingly clenching up a bit. "As much as you can be." He glanced to his right, over at Hikari, who he had obviously insisted on bringing along. "I've never needed your powers more than I do right now."

Hikari gave a wry smile. "I'll do my best." She reached up and grabbed the back of Takeru's neck, squeezing it a few times. "Whatever happens now...you've done really well."

Takeru snorted. "Really well?" He shrugged. "I don't know about that, this...this whole thing, I don't think I've done anything well."

"My main man, Prodigious!"

Hikari's hand immediately fell back to her side. Takeru could feel his entire body tense up. He didn't dare to turn around, instead opting for perking his ears up to intently listen.

"Mister Paxson, glad you could make it out today," Koushiro replied. Takeru could just barely hear the scraping of a chair being pulled out and the slight groan of a chair protesting underneath a good deal of weight.

"Of course I make it out for you, buddy," Ray replied. "Whenever you're in town, I'm always gonna come out to meet you. You know you're one of our best, right? Your results lately, through the roof."

"Yeah, it's been a fun ride for me," Koushiro agreed. "Just trying to enjoy it while it's going well." A slight pause. "So, small confession here, I don't know if you're aware of this, but...I never put too much time into actually looking into the particulars at Poker Hub."

"Most of the owners don't. A couple of them get a little more involved, but mostly...people just do commercials and collect checks."

"Yeah, that's...that's pretty accurate for me." Koushiro cleared his throat. "But I recently decided to...have a look at the numbers. The stuff that I get in my inbox every month as an owner. Actually really trying to understand it. I found some pretty interesting things, I wanted to ask about."

"Shoot."

"Some of the numbers I saw, didn't make a lot of sense to me. I was confused by a few things." A short pause, probably for a sip of water. "Uh...I noticed you guys just had one account for funds. One account for everything, it struck me as kind of odd. My understanding is that it's a common practice to...use segregated accounts in a business this big."

"Uhh...I mean, I suppose that's true. We just felt like, we could manage it. It's a little easier, just one joint account, and we just try to...manage it so it doesn't become a problem. It's not something you need to worry about, we manage it fine."

Koushiro grunted. "Uh...okay, sure. But...I was looking at some of the numbers, they didn't add up. Seemed like a lot of money was missing, it was...things added up weird. Seemed like something wasn't right."

"Well, we...our stockholders expect dividends, that's why they invested in the company in the first place. We felt it was important that the people who had faith in us from the start got a return on their investment, so we've made sure those people have been taken care of."

"I understand that, but...there was something off. It seemed like there was...less money in the account than the total amount of player funds on the site. Like, the company has less money than the sum of all the money that's been deposited on the site by players."

A short pause. "Koushiro, uh...that does happen from time to time, but...it's not a problem. I mean, for something like that to actually be a problem, you would...you would need every player on the site to try to withdraw all their funds at the same time. That pretty much can never happen, it's...absurd to plan for something like that. Small backlogs in funds happen every now and then, it won't affect anything badly."

"You understand it's still illegal though, right?" Koushiro asked. "And from what I saw, it...it looked pretty big. Like, there was a three hundred million dollar deficit."

"Three hundred million?" Takeru said loudly, spinning around in his chair, turning his body towards the small table. "That's pretty huge."

Ray Paxson was a large man with a finely-trimed beard, skin lightly-tanned. Takeru had seen his picture before, but had rarely paid him too much mind. As a casual, amateur player, Ray was only really relevant in the poker world as the CEO of Poker Hub.

"W-whoa, Ishida?" Ray said suddenly, visibly surprised by the suddenly appearance of the young prodigy. "What are you doing here?"

"You don't watch much televised poker, do you?" Takeru asked rhetorically. "I mean, I only won the most talked-about hand in the poker world right now a couple hours ago right down the street."

"O-oh, the...yeah! Okay, I get you, I...you, uh, you considering switching sponsors?" he asked. "I mean, while I got you here in front of me, I gotta ask, we'd love to have you over at Hub. You're such a big name right now."

"Oh, I don't think I want my name anywhere near your company, Ray," Takeru replied tartily. "That sounds like a really bad idea right now, with the problems you're about to have."

Ken suddenly spun his chair around as well. "Don't bother asking me either, by the way. I have a list of sites I'm considering, you're not on it. You might not be on anyone's list in a minute here."

Ray's face was blank, his eyes blinking a few times, seemingly taking awhile to process everything that was happening. "Uh...look, we're not the only company that does things like this, so—"

"Uh, I don't know about that," Takeru interrupted, sliding down out of his counter seat and coming up to the table. "I can tell you right now that Big Stack doesn't conduct their business like this."

"I don't want my name attached to these kinds of practices," Koushiro added. "I don't think anybody does. So, seems like we have a big problem here."

"T-this is how you get paid!" Ray protested. "This is how the owners, the stockholders, everyone, this is how they get a return on their investments and work!" He pointed over at Koushiro. "Your checks, the money you get from us, it came from that account!"

"I'm not sure what point you're trying to make," Koushiro mumbled in reply. "If I knew the process that was getting me those checks was illegal and taking money away from the players, I wouldn't have gone with it." He gave a small shrug. "So, now that I'm aware of your business practices, I have no choice but to report this to the authorities. I already have, in fact."

Ray sighed, leaning his head back. "Buddy, I wish you...wish you hadn't done that, we...we could have talked about it. Made some kind of deal, come to some kind of understanding, what...what have you done?"

"He's done what any good, responsible citizen would do," Takeru answered. "Now, Ray, listen up. You're about to make a very important decision, your life literally hangs in the balance. You've run your company very poorly, you've been very irresponsible, it's a miracle you didn't get caught a long time ago...and if Koushiro didn't find this, someone else would have. This is way too big to not get picked up by someone."

"Oh, what the...you're just some goddamn kid, you're talking like you know anything!" Ray snapped, clearly getting agitated, face muscles twitching as he looked back and forth between the two elite poker players. "W-what do you even care?! What's your business with this?! This is between me and Koushiro, so bite off!"

"Oh no no, this...me being involved is very fortunate for you," Takeru continued, sitting down on the chair on the near side of the table from the counter. "See, because of my situation, you might just have a way out of this."

Ray rolled his eyes. "Oh, give me a break...what are you even talking about?"

"I think you know," Takeru replied. "I'm sure you're aware that...me and your friend aren't exactly getting along right now. In fact, I suspect your plan was to let your friend know that you ran into me here as soon as you leave, as my location is something that's of extreme interest to him right now."

Ray pushed out a small breath. "Friend, what...I have a lot of friends."

"I'm talking about the guy who put you in charge of the company," Takeru said. "Michael Gandolphini. I have a feeling a lot of those missing funds ended up in his accounts, actually. Me and Michael, not kindred spirits. Now, me against him, not exactly a fair matchup." He pointed at Ray. "Maybe you can do something about that, though. Maybe, you can help me get out of some trouble, and help yourself get out of some trouble, all at the same time."

Ray gave a tiny laugh. "I...what are you even talking about? Are you a crazy person or something? W-what about Michael?"

"Stalling is not in your best interest, Ray," Takeru continued. "Playing dumb isn't going to help you. Now look, you're just a guy who doesn't know how to run a company. You're certainly a criminal, but...your crime seems to be one of stupidity more than anything. They'll take you, but you're not really the person they want. Now, your friend...he's got so much stuff going on, got his hands in so many illegal activities...that's a guy they *really* want."

"Kid, you're talking about stuff you don't understand," Ray muttered, waving his hands up in the air.

"I'll tell you what I do understand. As soon as you leave this restaurant, you're gonna be stopped by half-a-dozen uniforms. They've already received Koushiro's packet of account statements, they have a lot of questions for you, they're going to be taking you in." Takeru glanced over towards Ken for a moment, then back to Ray. "Now, Ray, I'm pretty sure that you know some things. I hope, for your sake, that you really know some things. Those things might save your life here. I don't think Michael's going to like you being under arrest, given your inside knowledge of his dealings. He might take extreme measures to make sure you don't say anything that he would rather keep a secret. I think you know what I'm talking about."

Ray swallowed down hard, glancing down towards the floor for a moment, a melancholy look on his face.

"So, here's your way out. You immediately confess to the mismanagement of player funds at Hub and everything that comes with it, you confess your connection to Michael Gandolphini and The Bosses, and explain that you are in grave danger due to your inside knowledge, which I'm just going to assume that you have. You'll be protected, you'll have free reign to tell the authorities everything you know...and you might just get off easy. They'll let the little fish go if the little fish helps bring in a big fish."

Ray's mouth opened slightly, then his jaw moved back and forth a bit.

"I don't care how long you and Michael have been friends. The moment he finds out that you're being questioned about illegal business practices and are facing serious jailtime, he will have you killed. And you know it."

Ray pinched at the flap of skin just beneath his nose.

"So...what's it gonna be then?" Takeru asked, putting his hands up behind his head. "You're leaving this place in handcuffs no matter what. Only question is, how many layers of bulletproof walls are there gonna be between you and the army of assassins Michael sends to keep you quiet."

Ray got to his feet slowly, giving a small nod. "I...I uh...I might be able to...I might have something..."

"That's good," Takeru said, nodding back to him. "You should be happy about it, buddy. It's your golden ticket. What you know is gonna get you out of a WORLD of trouble now."

Ray gave a tiny flash of a smile. "You, uh...you certainly have a way with words," he said, sounding downcast and defeated. He turned around and began to slowly shuffle towards the entrance to the restaurant.

Takeru, Koushiro, Ken, and Hikari all just remained in their seats, bated breath as Ray slowly pulled the front door open. As soon as he stepped out onto the sidewalk outside, three men in bright blue uniforms confronted him.

"Holy shit, it's working," Takeru said, sounding slightly disbelieving himself. He practically keeled over onto the table, body slamming against the surface with a thud.

"A-are you okay?" Hikari asked, jumping to her feet and going over to him.

"Omigod...wow, I...that was about the most terrifying thing I've ever done in my life," Takeru panted out, shaking his head back and forth. "Was it an okay delivery, did I do okay?"

"I thought it was great," Koushiro replied, nodding. "I think it worked, too, he...he didn't sound like a man who was willing to die for Michael." Ray was right outside, conversing with the uniformed men.

"You did everything you could," Ken agreed. "Now, we just hope like hell he really has something. Something that can't be ignored. We can actually take the bastard down, never have to worry about him again." He shook his head slowly. "I just wanted to get a little something to push back, I...this is insane."

Hikari reached down over Takeru, picking him up off the table surface. "You did really well."

"I hope so," Takeru replied, brushing the front of his jacket off. "I felt like...remember when I was bluffing in One Drop, and I was trying to talk to Ole, and trying to keep my cool? It felt a lot like that."

"We got a real chance now," Ken muttered, coming over to pat Takeru on the shoulder. "Somehow, we might just...wriggle our way out of this. At this point, that's...pretty amazing."

Takeru smiled. "I'm not even twenty-one yet, and...I might just take down the mob. Like...that's probably the...third greatest achievement of my life?"

Hikari gave a small laugh. "If it's alright with you, I'm not gonna...assume anything yet."

Takeru nodded. "That's a good idea." He got to his feet, shaking a bit as he tried to steady himself. "Alright, folks. Who wants to carry me home?" 


	48. Having A Plan

Chapter 48: Having A Plan

"Let's really take a look at this right now, because...it's so rare you see something like this during this stage of a tournament."

Takeru sipped from a glass of water through a small black straw, setting the glass back down on the table besides him. In front of him, an absolute mountain of sculpted clay sat in large stacks.

"Three million, eight hundred thousand chips, at this stage of the tournament. Those new glittering diamond chips that have just been brought into play, worth one hundred thousand each, he's got a full stack of those. Two stacks of lavenders, lavenders worth twenty-five grand, so that's half a million per stack. Three stacks of black, two hundred thousand a stack. A stack of green, a hundred grand. And five stacks of purple, twenty grand per stack. That is one hell of a position of power."

"Blinds have obviously gone up with the start of play today, big blind is now twenty grand, so...one hundred and ninety big blinds."

"Yeah, I've staked players before," Takeru said, looking two seats over to his left. "I'm happy to do it, but...I won't do it for just anyone. I've gotta vet you first."

"I-I've had good results, you can...you can definitely look it up," Michael Vayo replied, looking over at Takeru with eager eyes. "I satellited into this tournament, but...I'm looking to start playing in the ten Ks on a more routine basis, even some high rollers."

"Come talk to me during the break," Takeru offered, capturing two cards underneath his hands. "I'm currently backing Lauren Halladay, you heard of her? She's doing pretty good right now here on the tour."

"Thank you, sir," Michael replied.

"No no no, no sirs, seriously," Takeru insisted. "I'm twenty years old, you might be older than me, I'm not dealing with that."

"Takeru taking care of some business as play picks back up. When you're a hugely successful poker player with millions in winnings, you find young, lesser-known players who are just starting out who you think have potential, and you cover parts of their tournament buyins in exchange for parts of whatever prize money they end up winning. Clearly, someone like Takeru Ishida would be someone that a young player would be eager to approach for backing."

"I just wanna know how it works, when you get picked by a backer. Do you get pulled into a dark back room, go up to the backer, kneel, kiss the back of his hand, and receive his blessing?"

Artis Greenwood put out four black chips and a green chip.

"Artis Greenwood opens from under the gun to forty-five thousand, and he's got...two black kings!"

With Artis's early open, folds went quite quickly around the table.

"With the way this tournament's been going, expect Takeru to wake up with aces on the button, get it all-in preflop, and end this hand with over FIVE million in chips."

Takeru, after seeing action fold to him on the button, looked at the ace of spades and queen of clubs.

"Oh, I was half right! Ace queen offsuit. This could actually get a little ugly for the chip leader if he overplays it."

Takeru put the cards down flat in front of him, then tossed in one lavender chip, chasing it with a second one.

"Takeru flats the raise, I like that a lot. Artis is quite deep-stacked as well, so there's no need to go to war with ace queen."

The small blind folded, leaving Michael Vayo to look down at the queen of spades and jack of hearts.

"Vayo's in the big blind, he'll now be looking to impress Takeru for the rest of this tournament. Only needs twenty-five thousand to make this call, so he's getting seven to one, but his hand is pretty much in jail."

Vayo tossed in one lavender.

"Three way flop."

"I smell a king jack ten flop."

Ten of hearts, eight of hearts, eight of spades.

"Good flop for Greenwood's kings, still way in front. Vayo does flop a gutshot. Takeru's got two overcards, only one of them will be good."

Vayo checked.

"Checks to the raiser, over to Artis."

Artis, playing with a couple chips in his fingers, reached down at tapped the felt.

"And Artis...does not bet, he checks. Interesting."

"Trying to make it look like he's got ace king and is giving up, or maybe wants to just check-call. Plus, you're checking to the ultra-aggressive, ultra-deep-stacked Takeru Ishida, and he'll take a shot at the pot a decent percentage of the time."

Takeru picked up three lavender chips, one black chip, and one purple chip. He fired these chips forward in a line.

"That is a half-pot bet. He's got the least equity, and this bet isn't getting through."

Vayo looked down at his chips, then began to get a few of his lavenders out.

"Vayo looks like he's not going to let go with his gutshot. Kind of loose, but he's probably thinking his overs could be good as well."

Vayo tossed a few chips in, leaving Artis to put in calling chips as well.

"Artis's hand is way too strong to fold here, but he can't love this action. Both Takeru and Vayo can reasonably have an eight. Four hundred and thirty thousand in the middle."

The dealer put down the six of clubs.

"Six of clubs hits the felt."

"Now that Takeru's been called in two spots, I have to believe he's going to shut down."

Vayo and Greenwood both checked again quickly, allowing Takeru to tap his forearm a few times.

"Shut down indeed, Takeru checks behind."

"Takeru looking for an ace to take the lead, Vayo needs a nine to make a straight."

The river card was the queen of diamonds.

"Wow, worst card ever for Takeru AND Michael. They both have top pair, and the turn action pretty clearly indicates to Greenwood that he's got the best hand, so both may end up calling a bet."

Vayo checked, and Greenwood began to push out a stack of assorted chips.

"I see...eight lavenders, a green, and a purple, that's a value bet of two hundred and six thousand. And I have to believe both players will pay him off, Takeru especially can't fold after hitting top-top."

Takeru put his hands up to his mouth, covering it, staring over at Greenwood.

"Well, he hasn't called yet. I guess he has Vayo behind him, and this is a bit of an interesting line from Greenwood. He might think this has to be for value and he's not sure if he can beat any value."

Takeru looked back down at his cards for a moment.

"Greenwood raised from under the gun, so he's got a very tight range of hands that he can have. He might be thinking that best case scenario is they both have ace queen and he'd be chopping."

Takeru slid his cards over to the dealer.

"He gets away from it! Wow!"

"That is a spectacular fold from Takeru Ishida, most players would have snap-called there."

Vayo began to count out a handful of chips.

"Oh man, Vayo's going to have a bit of a hard sell to get Takeru's backing when he sees Vayo call with a hand worse than the hand Takeru just folded."

"Give the kid a break, not everyone can be Takeru Ishida."

Vayo put the chips out, prompting Artis to turn over his two kings.

"And Artis picks up a decent pot! His above-average stack keeps heading in the right direction!"

OOO

"Believe me, as someone who is...out there in the poker world, seeing things and hearing things, I can safely say, things would be so much worse and a lot less fun without all of the backing that happens. So many of the players in every tournament in the world are backed, probably something like seventy percent of players. A lot of the best players in the world right now started out being backed."

Connor Hall folded his cards.

"I, uh, I know that when Daniel Karns was younger, he was being backed by Phillip Mcallister, which was a significant help to his career at that stage. Uh, Ole Schneider, a guy who I went to academy with for a couple years, one of the elite players in the world, he was backed in some of his first high rollers by Kenny Mcdonald. Hey, there's a guy who's a legend in the world of backers, he's...had a remarkable track record of finding these unknown players, backing them, and having those players turn into the most top level players in the world."

Dennis Josephy folded as well, putting action over to Frank Milligan on the button.

"I'm not the typical poker player, I...my father is obscenely rich. Takeru, his father is wealthy. Most players don't get that advantage, so backing is a wonderful thing, and I look forward to one day hopefully being able to back players."

"Milligan's got the queens!"

Frank looked over to his left, at the blinds, dropping a chip on top of his cards.

"Queens on the button, yum yum. Good spot for Frank to advance his stack a bit."

Frank began to put together chips.

"For those of you just joining us, there are eleven players left in the Sienna Poker Tour Verma Gran Finale. We are two eliminations from the final table. Next player out gets two hundred and sixteen thousand dollars."

"Meanwhile, whoever goes out ninth gets two hundred and eighty-one thousand, so holding on for a little bit longer is pretty lucrative."

Frank put out three diamond chips and two black chips.

"Blinds are eighty and one-sixty right now, so that is a min-raise to three hundred and twenty thousand. Takeru in the small blind, still wielding the big stack in the tournament. We've still got Ken Ichijouji in the booth with us, he's been helping us with the the commentary today."

Takeru looked down at the queen and nine of diamonds.

"One other thing to consider in this tournament right now, is that we've got...Ace Rivers over on the other table with six big blinds, and on this table, we have...two players with less than twelve big blinds. So, the other eight players who still have significant amounts of chips, they really don't want to do anything crazy before those three bust out. Even to just make the final table, that's a huge deal for these guys, they don't want to throw that away doing anything nutty."

Takeru built out a stack of eight diamond chips, the surfaces of the chips glittering in the lights from the television cameras, and dropped them off in front of the dealer.

"Well, Takeru's timing might be a little off here. He's trying to bully the table, as he's been doing for most of this tournament, but he's run into the wrong hand."

The big blind folded, and Frank looked over at this tower of chips.

"Eight hundred and eighty thousand total from Takeru, and Frank is most certainly not going anywhere."

"It...the re-raise does make sense, queen nine suited is a reasonable hand against a button raise, and TK doesn't want to just flat and play out of position, but...yeah, Frank isn't going anywhere. There are a ton of hands that Frank can have here that he'd just fold now with the situation in this tournament, which is why TK is doing this."

"Frank's got a below-average stack, still forty-three big blinds, started this hand with a bit less than seven million. Takeru holds a staggering nineteen million two hundred thousand, one hundred and twenty big blinds, one fifth of the total chips in play."

Frank began to play with a couple rainbow-colored chips.

"Ken, if you're in Frank's spot here with queens, how are you playing it? Are you always raising here?"

"To me, there are two perfectly viable options. I think raising is fine, I like raising small. Two million, maybe a little less. And I actually think flatting in position is perfectly fine as well, you can let TK blast off and just call him down. That'll work quite well with a hand like two queens."

Frank finally tossed out two rainbow chips, taking back his initial raise.

"That's a four-bet to two million, which means about...thirty percent of Frank's stack has been placed in the middle. That has to be a...pretty strong indication to Takeru that it's time to get out of the way, yes Ken?"

"Oh, yes, queen nine suited...way behind Frank's entire range here. I mean, Frank didn't just raise, he raised small, which...pretty clearly indicates he's very strong. It's the kind of raise that's just begging to get called. Like, if Frank had a hand like...sixes or sevens, I think he'd be folding or shoving, but this is much stronger than that."

Takeru, however, held his hands atop his cards, staring over at Frank.

"Well, he's not snap-folding...I suppose he can afford to take a flop with a marginal hand here, no?"

"No, that's a...that's a terrible way to look at it. Frank only has, not even five million chips behind. Barely even has pot left, there's...there's no maneuverability for the rest of the hand, and even if queen nine suited makes a big hand, you can't get paid off that much. TK is clearly far behind here, and he must be aware of that, when Frank takes this line."

Takeru grabbed a rainbow chip from his half-stack of them and tossed it out into the pot.

"Well, Takeru's NOT done with this, he's...he's just calling! He's called a four-bet from out of position with queen nine of diamonds. Ken, what can possibly be going through his mind here?"

"Whatever is going through his mind right now, I sincerely hope it never goes through my mind. There's four point three million in this pot, Frank has four point nine million left in his stack, so...this is insanity. Like, to even consider doing this, you have to be thinking...I really hope this guy has jacks and my queen is live. Like, that's the one hand that you're getting the right price to call against, and you're still way behind."

"All I can say about your dear friend, Ken, is I ASSUME he has a plan."

Eight of spades, ace of diamonds, eight of hearts.

"Hm...well...maybe the plan is...try to make it look like you have an ace and get big pairs beneath the ace to fold?"

"Since we got here like this, I suppose it's there for the taking. I...I think it's arrogant to just say, I'm going to call this very clear and obvious push of strength from Milligan, and then hope an overcard comes out and then represent it, all the while assuming my opponent doesn't have that overcard, and everything's just going to work out."

"Ken, would you describe your good friend as arrogant?"

Takeru reached down and tapped the table a few times.

"Uh...no comment. I'll...I'll answer that after this hand is over. It seems optimistic to think you can just get this perfect parlay of events, but...how much would Milligan hate life if TK tried to represent an ace here?"

Slowly, Frank reached down towards his stack of chips.

"Ken, how are you playing this in Frank's spot?"

"I actually really like a check back here, I...I don't think betting makes any sense."

Frank counted out a few diamond chips in a few stacks in front of him.

"If he bets here, I feel like the implication is he's just...continuation-betting no matter what, on any flop, and that's a really bad plan to have. This is a pretty bad flop for queens, and...there are very, very few hands that are worse than queens that can call a bet here. And there are no hands better than queens that are going to fold. He's betting almost...out of fear of this flop. He's betting only because he wants TK to just go away. It's not for value, it's not a bluff, it's not for protection, it's just a...it's a 'I want this hand to be over' kind of bet."

Frank finally dropped out twelve diamond chips.

"Very small bet. One point two million into about four point three. Thirty percent of the pot."

"I suppose...if you're going to bet, I like the sizing. You don't need to bet big on a board like this, in theory, either your opponent has it or he doesn't."

Takeru stared down Frank for several long seconds.

"And Takeru doesn't appear to be done with this, at least he hasn't folded yet. If he were to check-raise bluff here. Possibly go all-in. What do you do as Frank Milligan?"

"Hate life, mostly."

Takeru reached down towards his stack.

"Of course, if you really think about it...a good player is not ever going to check-raise here with something like...ace jack or ace ten, which I think would be the hands that TK would be trying to represent here. That's the hard part. Maybe it wouldn't matter because of the I.C.M., but...if you really think about it, it makes no sense to check-raise with just one pair. If he does check-raise, he's repping...nine eight suited only, kind of."

Takeru pushed out twelve diamond chips.

"Uhhh...I believe that's just a call from Takeru. He's floating, out of position, with queen high and a couple backdoor draws. There's about six point seven million in this pot, Milligan has three point seven million behind. What in the world is going on here?"

"Something...something very bad, and yet, potentially something very cool. It kind of depends on what happens next, but...if I'm Frank, sitting there with queens, I feel like I must be beat here. Credit to TK for that, but can he make it matter?"

The seven of hearts was slapped down on the turn.

"I mean, you're sitting there, thinking the hand out, TK three-bets from the small blind, calls a small four-bet, check-calls a small flop bet...it looks like ace ten all day."

Takeru reached down to check again.

"He's checked AGAIN!"

"Well, he has to, donk-leading out there would...it makes zero sense. It might work, but logically, it wouldn't make any sense at all, and some players sniff that out."

"If Frank bets here, pretty much any bet...although he's likely to move all-in if he bets, then Takeru Ishida will have absolutely nowhere to go. That being said, I'm not sure he CAN bet, for the reasons you just outlined, Ken."

Frank reached down to the felt and tapped it a few times.

"Yeah, this is why I hate betting the flop, although in fairness...you wouldn't expect TK to do something as psychotic as this. If you just check behind, then you can reasonably convince yourself that TK is bluffing if he bets later on, now...it seems almost impossible to imagine. Even though he is."

"Takeru, by the way, is drawing dead. Yet, he feels like the favorite to win this hand somehow."

A jack of spades hit the river.

"Well, that's not a great card for Frank. I think that it's...at least a tiny bit possible that TK plays jacks like this. Not really his biggest fear, but it's at least a tiny consideration."

"So, Ken...what now?"

"Well, if TK checks here, I'm...I'm leaving the booth, going down to the floor, and throwing chip racks at him. You can't do all of this and then just...hope that queen high is good. He started down this path, he...he has to finish it. He got exactly what he needed on the turn, he got the checkback, he has to try."

Takeru reached over towards his sizable stack of chips.

"Wow, there he goes! Okay, Frank has three point seven million back, about twenty-three big blinds, so...this is likely an all-in from Takeru, and Frank does have enough chips left behind to fold and still have a playable stack. Is this getting through?"

Takeru pushed forward three full stacks of lavender chips forward.

"So, NOT an all-in from Ishida, he bets three million. Of course, it's a similar effect, Frank is not excited about calling, losing, and having less than five big blinds left. And, Frank is hating life right now."

Frank slowly took off his sunglasses, looking over at Takeru.

"Credit to my good friend, it's...it's a perfect plan. It really is. It's not something I would ever recommend anyone ever try, and being perfectly honest, it's probably pretty bad, but...I think it's going to work in this particular instance."

Milligan re-peeked at his cards.

"You have to realize, and I'm sure TK is thinking about this...Frank is not a big time superstar player with tons of big results. This is his biggest tournament results so far in his life. Making this final table, lasting two more spots, is a huge deal for him. The money and the prestige. He really doesn't want to put himself in a position where he's very likely to go out eleventh. Especially when it seems so obvious that he's beat. I know you want to call down the aggressive players, but...this is such a huge spot for Milligan."

Frank picked up his cards and tossed them over to the dealer.

"AND HE'S LET IT GO! HE'S LAID IT DOWN!"

"I...I do NOT want to be around in an hour or two when Frank finds out what TK had—"

Takeru turned over his cards and tossed them on top of the board.

"AND HE'S SHOWS THE BLUFF!"

Frank, clearly very confused, looked down at Takeru's cards, then over to Takeru, face wrinkled as he tried to process what had just happened.

"That is...one of the coolest plays I've ever seen in my life. I've been doing this poker thing for a few decades now, and I can honestly say, that was right up there. That's the kind of play I think every poker player in the world WANTS to pull off, but never tries because it's so absurd. And Takeru is consolidating his chip lead, he is an overwhelming chip leader now."

"Just to recap, to get this play to work...TK needed Frank to have a pocket pair below aces. He needed an ace to come up on the flop. He needed Frank to bet small enough to leave enough chips behind that he might fold later. He needed Frank to check the turn. And then he needed Frank to fold the river. He did all of this with a stack-to-pot ratio of about one point one to one going into the flop. What I'm trying to say is that...it's almost certainly a bad play. But it IS definitely a very cool play."

"What the eff, man," Tony Ruberto muttered, looking over at Takeru, shying away from him slightly, as if scared he was suddenly going to pull a dagger out from underneath the table and jump across wielding it.

OOO

~Hikari~

Hikari felt a good deal of relief upon opening the door and finding a familiar, pretty face standing on the other side.

"I never thought I'd be saying something like this when seeing you guys, but it's so great that you're all still alive," Daisy said loudly, stepping into the room and immediately giving Hikari a hug.

"Maybe eighty years from now you'd start saying stuff like that," Ken replied, entering the main room of the hotel room, peeking around the corner of the hallway. "You'll probably say that every time you see us by then, makes a ton of sense."

"You really think any of us are living to see a hundred?" Daisy replied wryly, sweeping past Hikari and going over to Ken. "Our mutual best friend just became an official adult less than a year ago, and he's already pissing off criminal overlords. I'll be happy if I make it to winter, honestly." She embraced Ken in a hug.

"How have you been?" Hikari asked.

"Oh...you know," Daisy replied, grimacing. "Every day's a...every day's interesting."

"Uh...you sure you feel okay being outside your condo right now?" Ken inquired. "Believe me, TK wouldn't have any problem with you staying back if there was any kind of mental block, what you went through was pretty extreme."

Daisy shrugged. "You guys have been globetrotting for the last month with no problems, haven't been attacked once, how...how bad can it be out here?"

"I don't know about that," Ken replied. "We've had to basically wear disguises when we're not in the poker room, staying in base level hotel rooms."

"Eugh, good point," Daisy said, giving a fake shiver. "Sleeping on cotton sheets, using bathrooms with tile-patterned wallpaper...I might rather take another gasoline bath."

"Hey, you can joke about it, that's a good sign!"

Takeru emerged from the bathroom, arms spread out to his sides.

"Dude, what in the hell?!" Daisy immediately snapped. "Floating queen high with a...point six to one stack-to-pot ratio?!"

Takeru stood up a little straighter, eyebrow raising a bit. "U-uh...I had a plan."

"That was...I mean, I've done crazy stuff on television too, but...what made you want to do that?!" Daisy couldn't keep a grin off her face. "Joseph would beat your ass for trying that."

Takeru pointed over at Ken. "He wanted to beat my ass for trying it. Sometimes, you just have to...do something dumb that'll look really cool if it works."

"Haven't you done enough of that kind of stuff lately?" Daisy quickly stalked across the room, reaching her long arm around Takeru's neck and jumping up a bit, allowing Takeru to catch her. "So, mister maniac with the big stack, I'm not even going to ask how you're about to win the Gran Finale in Verma while you're literally running for your life, because there's no answer you can give that'll make a lick of sense. I haven't so much as touched a poker chip since I got back home."

"Well, you shouldn't." Takeru set her back down on the floor, feet first. "You should take some time away, you were the one who almost died that night." Takeru's smile fell a bit. "Uh...it's great to see you again, I...you didn't have to come out here. It can't be easy for you."

"Hey, I've only had one nightmare where I wake up screaming in the last week," Daisy pointed out. "That's big for me, that's a huge improvement. When I left you guys, I could barely walk across the room without wanting to fall over, that first week I was waking up in a cold sweat every two hours, and look at me now." She gave a warm smile, then looked over at Hikari. "Thank you, again. Really, quick thinking that night, I was...I was almost toast."

"What else would I do?" Hikari replied. "You don't need to thank me, I just...I did what any person would do in that situation."

"Oh, believe me, I...I wouldn't have done that." Daisy glanced down towards the floor for a moment. "I would have just...panicked. Sat in the corner crying."

"I'm so sorry about all this," Takeru added. "This, bringing you guys into this, this...this was terrible. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. But it's almost over, it's...we've made a breakthrough, we're almost at the end."

"You gotta be kidding me," Daisy replied, putting her hands on her hips. "Er, I mean..." she looked over at Hikari. "Crap, I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"Oh, don't worry, believe me...I thought we were screwed too," Takeru assured her. "I was just going with it because I had to, I didn't want to!" He cleared his throat, then went up right in front of Daisy. "Anyway, we dug something up. Something pretty big. Poker world is about to turn upside down."

"W-what does that mean?" Daisy asked. "What does this have anything to do with poker?"

"Oh, just you wait to hear this one," Takeru said with a tired smirk. "You won't *believe* how we got in."

OOO

~Takeru~

With perhaps overly-forceful fingers, Takeru punched the keyboard a few times.

"I'm not believing it until I see it with my own eyes," Takeru muttered. Daisy, Ken, and Hikari were all looking over his shoulder as he pulled up a page on his computer.

Sure enough, after a moment, a white page with a multi-colored splash screen loaded up. In the left and right corners of the screen, a logo with a blue globe marked the message as being from the International Investigation Agency, with a single paragraph in the middle.

~This domain name has been seized by the International Investigation Agency in accordance with an arrest warrant. It is an international crime for an internet gambling business to not hold a sum of money equal or greater than the total sum of deposits made. (63 I.G.L. 2.51)~

"Holy shit, man," Daisy said, looking almost dumbfounded. "You did it. You took down Poker Hub. You literally shut down the biggest internet gambling website in the world." She looked down at Takeru. "You're a freak of nature. You're barely old enough to vote, and you just shut down a billion dollar company!"

"I had help," Takeru admitted. "Didn't do it by myself or anything."

"But still!" Daisy said, pointing at the screen. "Do you know how many people used that website every day?"

"Hey, I'm turning this up!" Ken announced, using a small black remote to crank up the volume on a television set built into the far wall of the room. "Yup, it's starting to hit the national news, check it out."

"The world of poker was shocked today, when popular gambling website Poker Hub was shut down by the International Investigation Agency. Millions of players around the world were shut out of the website, the familiar homepage of the site replaced with a message from the Agency."

Takeru slowly leaned back against the backrest of his chair, taking in a deep breath and pressing his hands up to his face. "We're almost home. I get to have my life back again, I...I didn't know for awhile there."

"Well, let's...let's not say that much quite yet," Ken warned.

"C.E.O. Raymond Paxson was placed under arrest yesterday afternoon after confessing under questioning to unlawful business practices at Poker Hub, including using player funds to play dividends to stockholders and salaries to employees. A bombshell was dropped yesterday when it was revealed that Poker Hub did not hold enough funds to cover the funds deposited by players."

"Taking down Hub wasn't the goal," Ken reminded Takeru. "It's just the first step. No guarantee that it leads to Michael."

"Let me be hopeful!" Takeru said, a hint of whining in his voice. "Look at this, this is...this is amazing! What I've done here, it's...I just feel like I deserve for this to work!"

"Players across the world panicked as the site was shut down, concerned about the state of the funds they had on the website. Billions of dollars in funds were deposited by players around the world, with some players holding millions, and as of now, there is no word on what will happen to the players who had money deposited on the website."

Takeru's face hardened a bit. "Shit, I didn't even...think about that. Hope they get taken care of."

"I'm sure they will," Daisy said. "How can they not? Even if Hub is short, the people running it have billions, they can always be sued for the difference."

"Raymond Paxson, who did not have any background in running a business, nor any education focused in the field of business, was placed as the C.E.O. of Poker Hub three years ago by the initial interest groups behind the creation of the site. Upon his arrest, he was granted immediate protection by the Agency."

Takeru clapped his hands together sharply. "That means he has it!"

"Well, it means he *says* he has it, what else would he say at this point?" Ken said warningly. "Come on, man, don't go crazy with this. Still a long way to go."

Hikari reached down towards Takeru's back and eased him upward. "Alright, you've got a final table tomorrow. And with your chip lead, if you don't win, it's a disaster, so you need to sleep."

"Not gonna be any sleep tonight," Takeru protested. "I can't sleep right now, I...you kidding me? I'm about to survive the...second dumbest thing I've ever done in my life, something that would have gotten almost anyone else in the world killed."

"Oh, this is the dumbest," Hikari admonished. "This is the dumbest thing you've ever done."

Takeru frowned a bit as he stood up. "I thought you were on my side here, you've been...you've been supporting me!"

"Well, I have to," Hikari countered. "I'm here with you, I can't just remind you of how big a mistake you made! But this is still the dumbest thing you've ever done."

"You haven't even known me for a year," Takeru protested lamely.

"Doesn't matter," Hikari insisted. "You tried to take on a crimelord as a side project with a couple friends."

"You know, I wasn't sure if it would ever happen, but...maybe things are close to going back to the way they were before," Daisy said to herself quietly. "Like this whole thing didn't happen."

As Takeru undid the tie around his neck and held the long, thin garment in his hands, he looked down at the floor. "Well...we'll have to see about that." 


	49. Heroing

Chapter 49: Heroing

"Yeah, it's...really a tragedy. So many of the great online players in the world played countless hours on Poker Hub, many of them played exclusively on Hub. Those of us who have been railbirds in online tournaments and online cash games over the years, we've got a fond connection to Hub. And to hear that the company may be undone by such a foolish bit of mismanagement on their part, it's...it's really tragic."

Takeru captured a couple cards underneath his hands, bending down a bit to have a look at them.

"We don't have all the details yet, but each new release of information contains a fascinating, shocking revelation. Apparently, somehow, someway, Takeru Ishida was caught in the middle of all this. Now, don't ask me how in the world someone can play in high-stakes poker tournaments AND cash games from practically dawn until dusk and still have time to unearth criminal practices on a gambling website, I couldn't answer that, but...we do know that Takeru was involved in bringing this case out, somehow."

With the nine of spades and five of hearts, Takeru reached towards his chips.

"Okay, Takeru's first to speak, nine five offsuit. We're four-handed for a Sienna Poker Tour title, Takeru is the big-time chip leader, of the ninety-six million chips in play he's got about fifty-eight million of them."

Takeru grabbed one rainbow chip and one diamond-tinted chip, looking at them and dropping them out towards the dealer.

"Absolutely RUNNING over this final table, every single time he's had the opportunity to apply some pressure, it seems like he's taken it. That's a raise to one point one million."

Clint Russell and Carlos Shaw folded quickly.

"So hard for any of these players to do anything about it, when Takeru has such a position of power to work from. These payjumps have gotten massive, it's worth so, so much for these guys to finish second instead of fourth."

Yu Kojijama tossed out seven diamond chips, calling from the big blind.

"Oh, we've got a caller, Kojijama wants to see a flop. And I believe we're putting on Guess The Cards, so we're not gonna see what he's holding yet. We know Takeru's holding nine five offsuit, and there are two point six million chips in this pot."

"I check," Yu said, tapping the felt.

"And Yu has checked in the dark here, which means he's checked before seeing the flop. Never been much of a fan of that move, personally."

The dealer put down the five of clubs, jack of hearts, six of diamonds.

"Takeru makes bottom pair. Phil, what...obviously, we don't have a ton of information, but what kinds of hands do you expect Yu to show up with here? He started this hand with something like thirty-three big blinds, so he can't be too wide, you'd figure. Not with these payjumps."

Takeru tapped the edge of his fingers on the table surface, checking behind.

"Well, I think any pair he'd be re-raising. Either moving all-in or raising with the hopes of getting all-in later. I think most hands with an ace in them would be a raise. Maybe some sort of king ten, queen ten, jack ten, jack nine suited. If he has a jack, he's pretty happy right now, obviously. I guess the suited connector type hands, seven eight, seven six, although he arguably shouldn't be playing those sorts of hands with his stack size, maybe he just can't resist."

The eight of clubs came down on the turn.

"Three million," Yu said, reaching over towards his stacks of chips and sliding a stack and a half of diamond chips forward.

"That's a very large bet, overbetting the pot. HIGHLY polarizing."

Takeru looked over at Yu for a few moments, then grabbed three of his rainbow chips and tossed them forward.

"Takeru likes his bottom pair enough to call...oh, and he's picked up a gutshot. Needs a seven to make a straight. So Yu is trying to say he's got...jack eight suited?"

"I don't think he should be calling preflop with a hand like that, given his stack situation, but...possibly. Seven nine suited, now a straight. Eight six suited. Six five suited. I'm not really advocating him getting involved with hands like that in this spot, but it's certainly in play. Maybe he's gotten sick of Takeru bullying the table and made a slightly loose call with a hand like that. Other than that, he can have the draws. Any seven is open-ended. Clubs, obviously."

The board completed with an eight of hearts.

"I'm all-in," Yu said immediately, standing up.

"Wow, he's...he's snapped all-in for...about nine million. Putting his tournament on the line with another overbet of the pot."

Takeru slowly leaned back, looking over at Yu, who had begun to pace around behind his chair.

"Takeru's got very bottom pair, a pair of fives. Not much of a hand, particularly when facing a shove, but...you know, these guys, they're beyond us. They see things most people don't, and...clearly, Takeru is seeing something."

"Well, all the draws missed, is the thing. If Yu had a seven, he missed his straight, and if he had clubs, he's missed that as well, so...it's at least worth thinking about."

Yu reached down towards the table by his chair, grabbing his water bottle and taking a quick sip from it. Takeru kept his eyes trained on him.

"He's trying to pick up on something, just...studying his opponent. He can beat a bluff, and this clearly smells fishy to him."

Takeru's stare only hardened as Yu took another drink of water.

"To do this, Yu has to have trip eights or better, there's...he's not ever doing this with just a jack when the eight pairs on the river. Even ace jack, he's certainly better than that. So...eight seven, which is a pair and open-ended on the turn and turns into trips, he MAYBE has that. Jack eight. Eight six. Nine seven. That's all that makes sense."

"So it's one of those hands, or Takeru's good, basically?"

"I think that has to be what he's thinking, in order to consider this call. The other side is...next out gets one point four million dollars, second place is just shy of three million. Not really a spot where you want to blow off over twenty big blinds."

"Takeru can certainly afford it, he'll still be the chip leader even if he calls and gets it wrong. He'd prefer not to beef up the stack of an opponent, obviously, but he'd still have around forty-five million if he calls and loses."

"Works better with water in it," Takeru said suddenly, still staring over at Yu.

Yu, holding his bottle of water to his lips, paused, eyes spinning down to look at the plastic bottle.

"Water bottles, they...they work better with water in them," Takeru explained.

"Uh...I guess Yu was drinking from an empty water bottle this whole time, just now?"

Takeru looked back down at the board of cards.

"Uh-oh..."

"I call," Takeru said. Slowly, Yu went up to the table, reaching down towards his cards.

"Takeru's called with bottom pair, we're gonna find out what Yu had!"

Ten of hearts, three of spades.

"...wow."

Takeru nodded, turning over his hand, and getting to his feet. He turned around, stalking over heavily towards the rail behind him. "YEEEAAAHHH!" he roared, a gutteral growl of a cheer, punching his fist through the air as he went over to his rail.

"And Takeru, typically a rather stoic individual on the felt, can't help but unleash an outburst of emotion after that one, I can't blame him. That's quite the hero call, and Takeru's chip lead is now comically large."

"So...Yu called a raise from out of position, with ten three offsuit, apparently with no plan other than to double-barrel bluff turn and river in the hopes that Takeru couldn't call."

Yu, clearly in a state of shock, slowly wandered away from the table, over towards the exit hall, hunched over as if trying to hide himself.

"That's quite an implosion from a guy with thirty plus blinds to work with, I...I don't understand. Obviously, he's walking away right now, just thinking to himself, how in the world can Takeru call with bottom pair, but...why put yourself in that spot? He was very reasonably set up to get to heads up and guarantee second place!"

"I'm sure Takeru picked up on some sort of physical tell as well, must have made the decision a little easier."

Takeru was exchanging assorted high-fives with his friends by the rail, an over-abundance of energy spilling over as he couldn't help but go over-the-top a bit in celebration.

"That's how you make a hero call!" Ken grunted, whacking Takeru on the back a few times.

"The kid's got a lot of energy, he's really pumped up about that hand, and he's now got over seventy million chips. Absolutely insane."

OOO

"One of the things that could really happen with Ishida at this point, is he could become one of those rare poker players who just doesn't care about anything except doing what he feels is right at all times."

Four large, armed men in blue uniforms, wearing bulletproof vests, gathered at the edge of the poker table, opening a sealed metal box that was positioned atop a wheeled tray.

"A vast majority of poker players in the world have to...concern themselves with so many different things when making decisions, often thinking about things that don't relate to the hand they're in. They need to make enough money to justify their career choice, they need to see some sort of return on their time spent on the felt, they need to pay heavy attention to pay jumps and I.C.M., it's just a lot of things that can really affect a player and prevent them from playing optimally."

The men began to withdraw handfuls of solid gold bars, polished to a mirror shine. Each brick was about the size of a large candy bar, eight inches long, three inches wide, and an inch thick. With two men watching intently, the other two began to stack the bars on the table. Fifteen of the bars were laid out next to each other.

"So often, players sit there when facing a big decision to call an all-in, and they just think...I'm probably good here, but I can't afford to be wrong, even if I'm only wrong...twelve percent of the time, the times I'm wrong are so disasterous, I'm just gonna fold. Maybe they're sitting there on the river and thinking...I think I can get a bluff through here, I believe my opponent is too weak to call, but if there's any chance that I'm wrong, it hurts me so much, I just can't pull the trigger. I don't want to play poker for three straight days and not make any money, I don't want to bubble a high roller, I don't want to get eliminated in the first hour of a tournament, I don't want to take any chances when I can just wait for payjumps, I don't want to blow up during the deepest tournament run of my life, I don't want to look stupid...all those things that keep a player from really following their instincts."

Building a pyramid of shimmering gold, the men stacked fourteen bars atop the initial fifteen, then thirteen on the next level, and so on, going vertically.

"But sometimes, a player can get to a point where they've won so much money and had so much success, that all goes away. Takeru's getting there, even though he's young. He's winning so much money, he's had such incredible results, that he's likely approaching a point where he can just play perfectly at all times. He can call big river shoves with bottom pair or ace high, he can try audacious bluffs, he can bubble a big tournament, he can get eliminated in the first five hands of a big tournament, he can ignore payjumps and I.C.M., and he can just do what he feels is right. And the times he's wrong, what does he even care at this point? He's Takeru Freaking Ishida! There'll be other tournaments to play in, he's got trunks full of money, so all that's left is to trust his reads. It's happened before with some of the truly great players in the world, and it's really a beautiful thing."

After a couple minutes, the pyramid of gold was complete, each level holding one bar less than the one below it. All in all, a structure of one hundred and twenty gold bars, each one holding an engraving of the Sienna Poker Tour logo and a number, one to one-twenty.

"We're just about to start back up here, as the heads up portion of the Gran Finale kicks off. Takeru Ishida holds a MASSIVE chip lead over Carlos Shaw, eighty-two million to fourteen million, with blinds at three hundred and six hundred thousand, and a one hundred thousand chip ante."

Takeru stared up at the impressive structure of gold on the edge of the table for a moment, then looked over at Carlos.

"As always, the Verma Gran Finale uses solid gold bars as the grand prize opposed to cash. That's one hundred and twenty gold bars of one kilogram each, each bar being worth about forty-one thousand five hundred dollars."

"As an added incentive to those champions who are also inclined to haggle, they can always put in a little extra legwork to sell the bars at more than their market price, and their prize becomes even larger!"

The dealer dealt out two cards to each player.

"First place takes home nearly five million dollars worth of gold, runner-up picks up nearly three million. It's a huge moment for both of these players, although things are very clearly leaning Takeru's way."

Three diamond chips went into the middle from Carlos after a look at his cards, four of spades and two of spades.

"Carlos Shaw completes from the small blind with four deuce of spades, limping the button. When you're short stacked, you have less room to maneuver, and things like limping in from the button with marginal hands that can flop well can be a viable play."

Takeru looked down at the jack of diamonds and four of diamonds.

"Suited jack four for Takeru."

"Good hand to take a free flop with. Carlos has less than twenty-five blinds, which is a perfect stack size to limp-shove with, and Takeru doesn't want to deal with that right now."

"Check," Takeru said.

"Every pot is a big deal here, one point four million in the middle already."

The dealer gathered up the chips in the middle, then put out the six of spades, ace of spades, and ace of diamonds.

"Ace ace six, Carlos flops a flush draw. Takeru's missed, just backdoor diamonds, though he does have the best hand right now with jack high."

"Still can't get over that pyramid of gold. Look at how shiny the bars are! Each one must have gotten scrubbed down with a toothbrush for three hours!"

Takeru tapped the table a few times.

"Takeru checks. Carlos can bet his flush draw right here and end the hand, in all likelyhood."

Carlos picked up one of his rainbow colored chips, but then simply tapped the edge of it down on top of another of his rainbow chips a few times.

"Or he can check behind and take the free card."

"With a limped pot, it's hard for either player to represent an ace, particularly Shaw. Carlos might feel like a bet would look like exactly what it is, a small flush draw, and he doesn't want to get pushed off it."

The dealer threw down the king of diamonds.

"Second diamond on the turn, gives Takeru a flush draw! Don't see Carlos being able to steal this pot quite so easily now."

Takeru tapped the felt again.

"No interest in playing a big pot from Takeru right now. He's got a huge chip lead, last thing he wants to do is inflate a pot and breathe life into Carlos."

Carlos set the chip in his hand down, then reached towards his diamond chips.

"Carlos Shaw, been a professional on the grind for a few years now. This is the biggest result of his career in terms of prize money already, although he has a World Poker Tour title to his name from two years ago."

Shaw fired out six diamond chips.

"Six hundred thousand on the draw from Carlos, less than half the pot. Unlikely to get rid of Takeru now."

"I do like the bet. He'll never win the pot with four-high and he won't improve on the river often enough, and Takeru looks like he has nothing. Plus he can represent a weak king reasonably well."

Takeru quickly cut out six diamond chips and put them out into the pot.

"Takeru just calls. Two point six million out there to win on this river."

"Last thing Takeru wants to do is raise and then get three-bet shoved on."

A five of hearts completed the board.

"The dealer puts out a brick on the river. Takeru's best with jack high, and Carlos is playing the board with four high."

"Sooo...how's this gonna go? Bet-fold? Bet-raise-fold? Check-check? Check-bet-fold?"

Takeru tapped the table yet again.

"There are more than four big blinds in this pot, kind of a big deal to Carlos's stack, I don't think he can just surrender here with four high. He's gotta try to push Takeru off a missed flush draw that beats the board, which just so happens to be exactly what he has."

Carlos again began to reach down towards his stack.

"And he's going to put together a wager, it looks like, to attempt to accomplish said pushing."

"Takeru could save us all a bunch of time by just folding right here before Carlos puts the chips out. Unless he's actually considering a check-raise that would make no sense and not represent anything."

Carlos fired out one rainbow chip and one diamond chip.

"Okay, NOW he can surely fold. Carlos bets one point one million."

Takeru stared over at Carlos, hand covering his mouth, then glanced back down at the board.

"Takeru Ishida, of course, one of the biggest stories in poker right now. Twenty years old, set the World Series on fire, won four bracelets and set the record for cashes in one year. Has had numerous huge results in Sienna and in a few other high rollers, but this would be his first non-World Series title."

Takeru seemingly winced, glancing back over at Carlos.

"He's giving this some very serious thought. And his body language seems to indicate he's thinking about calling. A few weeks ago, early in a three grand event, Takeru made a river call with jack high and could not have been more wrong. If he's actually considering doing it here, well, he's going to be very right!"

Takeru glanced over his shoulder, towards the loaded bleachers of seats, then turned back to the table.

"Clearly not giving Carlos credit for having an ace or king in his hand. Maybe because he just limped in pre-flop. And then if you discount him making a thin value-bet with a six or five, I guess jack high actually has some value."

"I still can't believe he's actually thinking about calling this. What about...Carlos could be bluffing with queen high, or even a better jack high!"

Takeru sighed heavily, grabbing one of his rainbow chips, playing with it in his fingers.

"He might be willing to take that chance. He is beating most of the bluffs, and he's getting a good price. Still, a call here would be insane, and him being right would be even more insane."

Takeru tossed the chip forward.

"HE'S CALLED! WITH JACK HIGH! AND HE'S RIGHT!"

With a bit of frustration, Carlos turned over his four and two. Takeru quickly tabled his jack and four, drawing a pause from Carlos as he saw the hand that called him.

"Makes a call I wouldn't make. Wins a pot I wouldn't win. In a tournament I would never be in."

After a moment, Carlos could only give a small nod.

"Another small hit to his stack, Carlos is approaching the danger zone. But even he can't do anything but respect that call. Wow. Carlos just got owned and he knows it."

OOO

"So, apparently...Poker Hub C.E.O. Raymond Paxson had some sort of information about Michael Gandolphini. Again, we don't have all the details, but there seems to be some sort of connection between Poker Hub and a large-scale organized crime group, with billionaire businessman Michael Gandolphini being heavily involved. This is a SHOCKING turn of events, it seems like every revelation about this case is more bizarre and shocking than the last."

Takeru looked down at the king and jack of hearts.

"Somehow, someway, Takeru Ishida was involved in all of this, and played a role in bringing this case to light. Very bizarre, a lot of details that need to be filled in. Meanwhile, he's on the verge of securing a major Sienna title, any hand could easily be the last. We'll have plenty of questions for him after this match is over. For the moment, he's got an over nine-to-one chip advantage."

Takeru put out two rainbow chips, taking his small blind back as his hand retreated back towards his side of the table.

"If Carlos wakes up with any sort of hand here, he's gonna go in, and Takeru's going to call, his hand's good enough."

Carlos peeled up the corners on the eight of spades and eight of hearts.

"Snap shove?"

"I'm all-in," Carlow announced, looking up at the dealer.

"I call," Takeru immediately replied, getting to his feet.

"And we've got a call! Carlos puts his last eight million in the middle with pocket eights, and currently the best hand, but it's a virtual coin toss! More than two million dollars separate first and second place, and it's all about to be on the line."

"You remember this hand!" Takeru said, taking large steps over towards the rail, pointing over at Hikari. "I know you remember this hand. No chance it's gonna let me down!"

"Takeru heads over to his rail of friends, Carlos also going over to his supporters. If he holds on, he'll have picked up a significant number of chips and be back up to twenty big blinds, might be able to make this a match again."

The dealer patted the felt a few times, then burned a card before putting down the five of hearts, king of spades, and ten of clubs.

"AND THERE'S A KING ON THE FLOP! Takeru takes a commanding lead with top pair, Carlos now needs to come from behind! Needs to see an eight, or else this tournament is over!"

"I knew it!" Takeru said, turning around and slapping Ken's hand a few times. "Knew this hand wouldn't let me down."

"Takeru Ishida is just two cards away from solidifying his firm grip on the title of best young poker player in the world. Four World Series of Poker bracelets, two Sienna Poker Tour final tables, a Panok Millions Super High Roller final table, and now, closing in on a title. All in six months of work, doubtlessly one of the best six months in poker history."

Three of clubs.

"I mean, admittedly, if it does come, I kinda deserve it for celebrating too early," Takeru muttered, looking over his shoulder at Daisy and shrugging. "I'm just a little amped right now, I know better than to celebrate early."

"That's negated by her being here," Daisy pointed out, gesturing towards Hikari. "If the eight comes, we'll have to give her an exorcism, that wouldn't be right at all."

"Don't worry, I brought it," Hikari said, reaching into the pocket on the right side of her shorts and pulling out a worn queen of hearts. "You're good." She reached it up towards him. He turned and gave it a quick kiss, before turning back towards the table.

"Takeru can taste it. Five million dollars in gold bars, and one of the most prestigious titles in all the world of poker. Carlos Shaw needs to see an eight on this river, and an eight only."

The dealer put out the ace of diamonds. Takeru pumped his fist through the air.

"No eight on the river for Carlos, and Takeru takes the title!"

Quickly, Takeru walked across the floor towarsd Carlos, reaching his hand out. Carlos took it, the two getting up close to each other.

"You played great, man, great final table," Takeru said quietly.

"Good playing with you," Carlos replied. "Well done, you're as good as they say."

With that, Takeru sprinted over towards the table, arms held up in the air, eyes on the massive stacks of gold.

"He made massive hands and got maximum value out of them. He made strong hands and folded them when he was beat. He bluffed. He snapped off bluffs. You name it, he did it, and he's our deserving champion!"

Takeru grabbed two handfuls of the gold plaques, holding them up in the air, posing for the assorted cameras all around the table. "The whole world's gonna find out I didn't win those bracelets by mistake!"

"I don't think anyone was thinking that."

Ken jumped up high in the air as he approached Takeru from behind, landing right behind him and embracing him, nearly knocking him into the stacks of gold. He pulled Takeru back before he could actually land on top of his prize, slapping him on the chest a few times.

"You know how you know that you've made it?" Takeru said loudly, thrusting the handfuls of gold back up into the air. "They start paying you in gold bars because you've seen so many piles of cash, it's gotten boring to you!" He handed a couple of the plaques over to Hikari. "Here, take them."

"What do I do with them?" Hikari asked, grabbing them from Takeru's hand.

"You hold them up in the air and celebrate the fact that you have them and other people don't!" Takeru answered, jumping up onto the table, standing next to his mountain of gold, and thrusting his arms up, again slowly spinning around to pose for all of the cameras.

Hikari shrugged, then held the two plaques up high in the air.

"So, I didn't wanna say anything while you were playing, but I've got more good news," Ken said, looking up at Takeru. "I think we can finally go home."

OOO

~Takeru~

"You know, there's nothing in the book for this. I have no idea what to do."

It had been so long since Takeru had spent more than a couple moments in the Ishida living room, it almost felt alien. Countless stops in various hotel rooms over the past several months made him almost feel as if this wasn't his home. As seconds ticked by, however, and the full nature of everything that had recently transpired really hit him, he was able to feel the full relief of being home again. Not too long ago, he wondered if he could ever even come back here. The bevy of couches in the large main room, best positioned to watch the several televisions on the wall, gave the room a feeling of permanence that the countless hotel rooms that Takeru had spent time in recently lacked. He and his father were standing in the middle of the room, Hikari standing by Takeru's side.

Those televisions, in fact, were all tuned in to one particular broadcast. A breaking news update that was shaking the world, and carried a particular importance to the Ishidas. A man being led out of the front door of a mansion by four uniformed men, out towards a half-dozen parked cars just in front of the wrought iron gates in the front yard.

"I don't have the first clue how to handle this," Hiroaki continued. "I don't think any parent in the history of humankind has been in this situation before."

"You could just not do anything," Takeru suggested. "Just let things be as they are. It's arguable that everything's evened out, right? I mean, nobody got hurt."

"Bite me?" Daisy instantly retorted, entering the living room from the kitchen, holding a tall, thin glass of a clear, bubbling liquid.

"Oh, you didn't get *hurt*," Takeru protested. "You just got mentally scarred and tramuatized, there's a difference! Hey, actually, I got hurt more than you did, my head got thrown into a door."

"You're pushing your luck, little man," Daisy replied dryly. "I've decided not to hold what happened to me against you, but I'm capable of changing that decision at any time."

"I am a little man," Takeru said. "That is true."

Hiroaki sighed. "Okay, so...you tried to gather information to blackmail a man you knew to be very dangerous and highly organized, against my wishes—"

"Hey hey hey, you didn't tell me not to do that," Takeru countered. "You didn not tell me that I couldn't try to dig up some dirt on Michael, you just discouraged me from trying to make a deal with him. Not even in the same ballpark."

Hiroaki reached up to squeeze at the bridge of his nose. "I just thought you were smart enough to not consider that as something you could do."

"Now you know better," Takeru said tartily.

"...right," Hiroaki sighed. "Anyway, you did that...you endangered your friends and your family, the fact that we all made it out of this in one piece of something of a miracle. You didn't come home when I told you to, you ignored me when I tried to contact you every which way I could...it's not great."

"BUT, my heart was in the right place. I think I deserve a lot of credit for that," Takeru said, looking up at one of the televisions, looking almost proud of what he had managed to accomplish.

"You were very lucky, you know," Hiroaki added. "Michael had to give a complete moron the keys to Poker Hub in order for you to actually pull this stunt off. If he just had a BAD C.E.O. at Hub, this wouldn't have worked."

"That's not even the half of it." Ken emerged from the left hallway of the luxury suite at the top floor of The Mecca. "Can you believe this shit? Michael had a ledger full of notes detailing the deals he had running. Decades worth of criminal activity, all written down and tracked in a ledger."

"He wanted to make sure he had a ton of bargaining chips in case he ever got caught," Takeru reasoned. "Wanted to be able to sell everyone out if he got in a bad situation."

"On the other hand...you did manage to bring down a huge piece of the biggest organized crime outfit on the planet." Hiroaki shrugged, looking up at the television as well.

"And you're now getting off scot-free for your deal with The Bosses," Takeru added. "Don't forget that, that's...that's got to be a pretty big deal for you."

"It feels like too much stuff for me to just do nothing with," Hiroaki continued. "Like, the bad stuff, the good stuff, it's so huge, I can't...can it really even out to where I can just shrug my shoulders and just move on with life?"

"Hey, you know, my mom is pretty furious with me," Takeru pointed out. "Don't know if you picked up on that or not, she's pretty unhappy. That's not good for me, so...maybe we can just say me dealing with that is good enough?"

"She, uh...yeah, she's not happy," Hiroaki agreed. "I know better than you do, I've been here for the last month with her."

"I knew she wasn't going to like it," Takeru said, going over to one of the couches and sitting down heavily on the armrest. "That's, that's something I was willing to accept when I started this. That was a consequence I knew was coming." He looked around the room. "The other stuff that happened, well...I may have misjudged what I was getting involved in."

"You know I've spent the last month here terrified that we were going to be attacked, terrified that my casino was going to be attacked, and terrified for you all at the same time," Hiroaki reminded him. "That's an awful lot you put me through."

"I brought home five million dollars in gold though," Takeru pointed out. "Five million dollars in gold bars, that should make up for a lot of it."

"It's not like you're giving it to me," Hiroaki pointed out with a chuckle.

"Okay." Takeru took in a deep breath. "Dad, I'm...yeah, I screwed this one up, and I'm sorry." He sighed, glancing around the room. "I just...I felt invincible, that was a mistake. I just felt that...this would just be a little thing I did on the side while I was traveling the world, I thought it'd be easy." He rolled his eyes. "I messed up. I'm sorry. I know it must have been a...really rough month around here."

Hiroaki nodded. "Well, credit for understanding all of that."

Takeru thought for a moment. "But, once I was in, I couldn't just stop," he insisted. "Even if it seemed impossible to get out of it, I...I couldn't just come back here and stick my head in the sand. I had to find a way to end it, that was...that was the only way."

"You know, you might have been able to find that way a little easier with me helping," Hiroaki suggested. "I mean, I'm only a powerful business owner with millions of dollars."

"I didn't want to make you...make you a target any more than I already did," Takeru said lamely. "If someone was going to die for this, it...it should have been me, right?"

"I'm your father, I can't look at things like that," he pointed out. "Well, son...I don't know how in the world you swam across a...you swam across an ocean and came out on the other side dry as a bone."

"Wow, never...never say something like that again," Takeru said, blinking rapidly a few times. "I feel like I just got diabetes from you saying that."

"So...here's the best I can say," Hiroaki continued, turning towards Hikari. "I know my son thinks you're good luck for him. I can't attribute what's happened over the last month to anything logical or scientific, so I'm just going to give you the credit for it." He nodded. "Thank you for keeping my son alive."

Hikari, with a small giggle, nodded. "I...I did the best I could. Your son's a maniac, all I can do to keep up."

"You guys sound pretty positive that we're out of the woods," Daisy said. "I mean, we got the guy arrested, that's great, but...no guarantees." She pointed up towards the television, which had mostly been looping the video of Michael Gandolphini being marched from his front door out to a car. He was being placed in the back right passenger seat of a car.

"I don't think he's getting away from this one." Hiroaki moved up towards the television. "I'm sure he's got a big bag of tricks, but this is too much for anyone to get away from. There are too many people in the world who have wanted to fry this guy for too long. Can't bribe or threaten everyone."

"Buddy." Ken turned to where Takeru was seated. "You did it. I've been reading the news updates. Feels like every crime that's happened in the last twenty years is getting stuck on him. You can run from some of that, but not...not the whole thing."

Takeru ran his right hand over his face. "His empire was built so delicately too." He gave a tiny laugh. "All I had to do was poke at one idiot he put in a place of power, and I toppled the whole thing."

"That's how it always is, isn't it?" Ken said. "These criminal masterminds, it's always that one random, seemingly meaningless loose end that messes the whole thing up."

"Plus, sounds like a whole bunch of dominoes are gonna fall now," Hiroaki continued. "He goes down, he's taking a whole bunch of people who worked for him and with him down as well. It's kind of beautiful, when you really think about it."

"I made the world a better place," Takeru said emphatically, pointing over at his dad. "Say whatever you want to say about me, I improved the state of the world. Countless illegal activities, and the people who participated in them, have come to light. You're welcome!"

Hiroaki gave a tiny laugh. "I suppose I'll...I'll be looking at some kind of fine when my own transgressions come to light. That makes me one of those people who participated."

"It'll be a speeding ticket," Takeru pointed out. "I handed the I.A.A. this case on a platter, they've been trying to crack The Bosses for years, and I found the hole to get in. If I asked, they'd let you off free, never even ask you about it."

"Yeah, but...morally, I should at least do SOMETHING, right?" Hiroaki countered. "I got this place by funding organized crime, now everyone knows, it's...not great for my reputation. Least I can do is make some small effort to atone for it."

"But it's better than continuing to do it, right?" Takeru said. "The bill was gonna come in eventually, doing it now just means it'll be easier to deal with."

Hiroaki reluctantly nodded. "Well, son. Sounds like you pretty much have a good handle on everything that happened, so I'll leave the tirades to your mother whenever she's ready. All I can say is...you're a very, very lucky young man."

"Yeah, that's shocking, we had no idea he was a lucky person," Ken said dryly. "Come on, we all know the universe is going to conspire to work out for TK."

Hiroaki chuckled. "Ken, Daisy, Hikari, I'm...very sorry my naive son pulled you into his crazy plans." He turned over towards Takeru. "Anyway...you want me to start selling off that gold? I know some guys."

"Oh hell no, I'm holding on to that, that's going straight into the vault." Takeru stood back up. "I don't need the cash, the value of gold goes up faster than inflation, and it's just awesome to have five million dollars in gold plaques."

"Spoken like an Ishida," Hiroaki said.

OOO

Although it had only been six months, Takeru felt as if he was taking a short stroll through memory lane as he looked at the small podiums covered by thick panes of glass. It felt nice, having enough nice possessions to get his own room in the Ishida family vault. Secured behind nearly a foot of steel and layers of concrete, the room spared no effort in securing it's contents.

There were four of the little podiums lined up next to each other along the wall, each one rising up about four feet, providing a platform for one silver, diamond-studded bracelet each. The leftmost one, a thin, minimalist design, with a few rubies adding a bit of color. Two playing cards, the ace of spades and king of diamonds, were underneath the band. The second, a similar design with emeralds and sapphires, was atop seven cards. Seven of spades, ten of clubs, seven of hearts, six of diamonds, jack of clubs, jack of spades, king of hearts. The third was gaudy, almost too large to practically wear, with gems all the colors of the rainbow, shiny platinum reflecting light with tremendous radiance, an ace of diamonds and ten of clubs beneath it. The final bracelet was oversized and seemingly made up entirely of gems, with no actual silver or platinum band, with the seven of diamonds and five of spades underneath it.

"I figure, the trophy is just gonna go here, in front of the bracelet podiums. That way, the back wall is free to just be for more bracelets. Because the trophy one is gonna be way bigger, because I wanted to put the gold with it. So it's gonna be like, a whole...dais, almost, whole thing encased in glass. Pyramid of gold, trophy on top." Takeru gestured emphatically at a space in the room in front of the bracelet podiums. "Of course, the king and jack of hearts go underneath the trophy."

"It must be a really big hardship for you, figuring out how to organize your jewelry," Daisy said snidely. "Just know I'm going to remember this if you *ever* say a word about the size of my closet room."

"What can I say, I didn't expect to win so much bling so fast," Takeru replied. He and Daisy had retreated down into Takeru's vault room for a few private moments, as well as allowing Takeru to recharge his ego upon viewing the spoils of his triumphs. "It's been one hell of a half-year."

"I want a title," Daisy said wistfully. "I come down here, look at all this beautiful stuff, and...man, I don't care which one it is." Her nose wrinkled for a moment. "I mean, as long as it's not the Female Only Sienna Invitational."

"Well, obviously, that one doesn't count." After a glance across his row of bracelet podiums, Takeru sighed. "Hey, again, I wanna say...I'm really sorry I pulled you into all of this crap."

"I understand," Daisy insisted. "You...you made mistakes. But I didn't have to go along with you, I chose to do that."

"You didn't sign up for...for that," Takeru insisted, reaching up to grab at the small of her back. "You're not someone who should ever have to go through something like that, and I put you in that position, and...there's no excuse for that."

Daisy sighed heavily. "I...I'm getting better every day. It gets better." She smiled, turning towards him, sandals clinking away at the concrete floor beneath her. "But, you won. Went through that river of crap and came out clean on the other side."

Takeru gave a slightly derisive snort. "Clean? That might not be the right word."

"You're alive, your friends and family are alive, your career is over the moon, the skeletons in the closet you were worried about have been taken care of...given that you took on a crime boss, that's pretty clean." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I mean...assuming Michael gets convicted of even one percent of the stuff they're going to bring on him, things get to go back to normal, right?"

Takeru grimaced for a moment, looking away from her. "Umm...normal is a stretch."

Daisy's face fell a bit. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I've been thinking about the ramifications lately," Takeru said, frowning a bit. "Daisy, uh...we need to talk about this. There's something..." he clicked his tongue a few times "...there's something we need to really think about here." 


	50. Friendly Runout

Chapter 50: Friendly Runout

"Seven players have sat down to begin playing their fourth and final Premier League heat, all of them looking to pick up points. We have an eighth player here, also looking to pick up points, but he's not yet joined us."

The oval table was populated as always by a collection of successful, professional players, one dealer seated on the near side, shuffling a deck. Bleacher seating surrounded the floor, packed with interested observers. Only one oddity stood out, with seat four being unoccupied.

"Takeru Ishida is in the building, but he's opted to skip the initial portions of the heat today. Until he chooses to join us, all of his hands will be automatically folded, and he will be donating his blinds and antes to the pots. Takeru needs to finish in fourth place or higher in order to feel safe about making the final table, so he's going to stay out of the way and let a few players get eliminated before actually starting to play."

Just outside the poker room, a hallway threaded through the casino, down into the main area with more casual table games. Takeru, wearing a tan suit jacket, had seated himself up near a half-circle table, looking up at a dealer. To his immediate left, Hikari was seated, wearing a sundress, looking down at the felt.

"No no, this is a breeze, trust me. This game was literally invented by a man trying to create something that a particularly dim-witted king could understand, hundreds of years ago. I'm not joking," Takeru said. "Tens and face cards are worth zero, aces are worth one, and all other cards are worth their numerical value. So if you get a jack and a seven, the hand is worth seven points."

"In lieu of joining the early action, he's outside, teaching his friend how to play baccarat, apparently."

"Not exactly the kind of game I would recommend an expert poker player to get too deep into, but, um...I suppose it's fun in moderation."

"The dealer basically plays the whole game for you, you just decide which hand you're going to bet on. Player or banker," Takeru said. "Just put your bet on whichever hand you want to, and the dealer handles the rest."

"So this is the kind of stuff people sit inside casinos for hours on hours playing?" Hikari said, wrinkling her nose a bit. "You just...put chips in and watch cards flip over?"

"Yeah, basically you're...betting on heads or tails," Takeru admitted. "I don't care for it, but...I have a feeling you're gonna be really good at it."

"How much do I bet on each hand?" Hikari asked.

"Whatever you want, like...you could do a thousand per hand to start." Takeru reached over and rubbed Hikari's back. "Whatever you want though, up to ten thousand per hand. Let's just kill time and have some fun together."

"In the long run, playing baccarat is always a losing proposition no matter what you do, just a little...reminder to all the viewers out there. All of Takeru's considerable poker skills are wasted on a baccarat felt."

"I can't wait to tell my brother I spent an evening making thousand dollar wagers on random events completely out of anyone's control," Hikari said, holding a pink chip up in her fingers.

Takeru twisted his body around to look at the camera that had come up behind him. "Stick around. She might actually come up with a winning baccarat strategy. Just watch."

"Alright, let's get back to the action."

OOO

Takeru poked his head into the doorway. "So, how's it going?"

Daniel Karns twisted his body, looking over towards the entrance to the large room. "Hey kid, how's it going out there?"

"Hey, D.K.!" Takeru replied, quickly striding through the doorway, out onto the floor, waving around to the crowded bleacher seats. "Anything happen yet?"

"D.K.?" Daniel repeated. "Come on, man, you're saving like...one syllable."

"That's what people call you on the internet sometimes," Takeru replied, shrugging, taking stock of the situation around the oval table. "Uh, Antonio Hopkins, he's out?"

"Yeah, he just got bounced," Daniel replied. "Down to seven!"

Takeru craned his neck up, quickly going up to his vacated seat on the left side of the table. "It's my button?" He waved towards the dealer. "Alright, deal me in for one hand."

"Well, Ishida has decided to join us for at least one hand...we just started the second level, he's down about twenty thousand chips. He's locked up one point for sure, he certainly needs more to feel comfortable."

"She's kicking ass out there, by the way," Takeru added as he took his seat, catching a card underneath his palms. "Give it a few weeks, I'll turn her into the very definition of a degenerate."

"What, your friend?" Carson Boller asked, looking out towards the doorway Takeru had just entered through.

"You've got the most...fascinating relationship with that woman," Daniel added, putting out four thousand in chips along with a thousand chip ante. "It's really kind of charming, I think."

"She's something else," Takeru said. "That's all I can really say about that."

"So, are you ever gonna tell us about that whole deal between you and Poker Hub, by the way?" Chandler Cazano asked from seat nine as he folded his cards over to the dealer. "We're all dying to know, what the hell happened with all that?"

"All in due time," Takeru said. "You might have to buy my book to find out, I'm not sure yet. Maybe I'll make it a pay-per-view event or something."

"Takeru still playing things close to the vest with his business off the felt. We still can only speculate on what happened between him, Raymond Paxson, and Michael Gandolphini, but somehow, it's all linked together, and...oh boy."

Takeru looked down at the ace of hearts and ace of diamonds.

"You...you absolutely have to be kidding me, Jeremy. He sits out the first level, comes back for one hand on a whim, and gets dealt aces on the button."

"I was going to say that he should just fold whatever he gets dealt anyway, but...can't really fold this."

Takeru grabbed a yellow chip and a blue chip, flipping them out into the pot.

"A little less than three times the big blind."

"Oh, look at this kid," Daniel said, leaning forward to look around Fillipo Verduci, over at Takeru. "You come back for one hand and you're getting in there?" Fillipo folded. "You trying to tell me you've got something?"

"I just can't help myself," Takeru replied. "Folds to me on the button, what can I do?"

"Oh, oh no...Daniel, don't do it."

"You know what I should do?" Daniel said, looking down at the ace of spades and deuce of spades. "I should just move in, I can do it with literally any two cards. I can have two napkins and do it, it doesn't matter, you can't call."

"I mean, I guess," Takeru said, shrugging, looking vaguely uninterested.

"Oh my God, Daniel, don't fall for it...you don't, you don't actually think he's gonna do it, do you?"

"He does have that ace blocker in his hand, makes it...makes it at least somewhat sensible."

"I might just do it. I didn't even need to look at my cards, really, I can just stick it in on you blind, and you can't do anything about it," Daniel continued. "Like, you'd just be screwed, you have to fold."

"Sure," Takeru admitted.

"Alright, I'm all-in," Daniel announced.

"Call," Takeru replied, tossing a couple yellow chips towards the dealer.

Daniel's face fell a bit. "Really?!"

"Yeah, I have aces," Takeru said, a grin suddenly breaking out across his face.

"You're joking," Daniel deadpanned. Takeru flipped over his cards, exposing the two red aces. The entire table, except for Daniel, exploded into laughter, Fillipo keeling over and nearly knocking his chip stacks over. "Oh, gross." Daniel sat back, looking to his left, shaking his head.

"Oh, WOW! What the...WHAT WAS DANIEL THINKING?!"

"That's so sick!" Daniel said, unable to not grin inspite of himself. "I even have an ace too." He turned up his cards. "You don't show up for the first...twenty hands, come back for one hand, and you get aces on the button!"

"Hey, it's not over yet," Chandler pointed out. "Spades, small cards, don't...don't count the chickens yet."

"Yeah, but if I win this, I can literally just fold my way to the final table, it's worth it," Takeru said. "I definitely know I don't want spades."

"And Daniel, who by the way, needs some points in this heat as well to make the final, and who was off to a very strong start today...he's going to be down below a hundred thousand chips! His Premier League is in SERIOUS danger now!"

The dealer put out the ten of hearts, king of clubs, and queen of hearts.

"Oh, chop outs!" Daniel said, faux-excitedly, holding his arms up in the air. "Jack, baby! Gimme a jack! One time!"

"Would you have done that with, like...queen ten or nine eight or something?" Chandler asked, looking over at Daniel.

"Uh, I don't know, I...it's a lot safer with an ace in my hand," Daniel replied. "Because if I have an ace, obviously, he can't have aces. Even though he does." He rolled his eyes. "Man, this kid, every time."

"Daniel NEEDS running deuces to win the pot. A jack would chop, both players would have the same straight. And, Takeru, playing only ONE hand, is going to have nearly six hundred thousand chips, and he'll literally be able to fold his way to the top four if he wants to. What a swing!"

"I think it was a reasonable move, with the...with the dynamics going on in this heat, Takeru is probably going to just fold even a hand like kings. Aces is the one hand Takeru can call it off with, and you've got the blocker, but...it's still a tremendous risk to take."

Five of spades on the turn.

"And he's in the final!" Takeru said, pumping his fist in the air. "And he's in the final!"

The dealer completed the board with the six of spades.

"And he's in the final!" Takeru jumped out of his chair. "See you guys later tonight."

Daniel shook his head again, counting out chips and pushing them towards the dealer. "Wow, what a...wow."

Takeru jogged back towards the doorway, leaving the poker floor, heading down the hall back towards the baccarat tables. A lone camera followed him outside. "Hey, hey, Hikari, you're not gonna believe this!"

Over on the baccarat table, Hikari looked over her shoulder. "Please don't tell me you busted."

"Of course not," Takeru said, waving his finger in the air towards her. "You know I know better than that." With a broad grin, he energetically slid back into his seat next to her. "I go in for one hand, and I get aces on the button, I open, and Daniel just shoves because he think I can't call, and I snap. I doubled up in one hand."

Hikari laughed a few times. "What did Daniel have?"

"Ace deuce," Takeru answered, grabbing one of the pink baccarat chips and placing it on the 'banker' side of the felt. "I've got over five-fifty now, I'm in the final."

"Are you sure?" Hikari asked.

"Yeah, I'm not playing another hand until three more people go out," Takeru said. "I'm in for sure." He pointed over at a stack of twenty pink chips in front of Hikari. "Is that whole stack new?"

"Yeah, I'm betting bigger now," Hikari answered, putting four pink chips on the banker as well.

OOO

The dealer slapped down the nine of diamonds on the river.

"Alright, good playing." Takeru reached across the table, shaking Ivan Dimitroff's hand a few times. "Good hand."

"Good times, kid," Ivan replied. "Hope to see you at the final, but...not looking so good for me."

"Hey, win this heat, you never know," Takeru replied, taking a final drag out of a glass of water.

"And that will do it for Takeru Ishida in his fourth heat, he exits in third place, locking up nine points and a guaranteed spot at the final table. Thirty-three points, good for thirty-three thousand dollars guaranteed, with a whole lot more to play for next week. Might not seem like the biggest deal in the world given his recent five million dollar score, but I promise you, he's cherishing it."

"Alright, you two have fun heads up," Takeru said, waving, heading over towards the doorway. "Enjoy."

Just outside the doorway, Ken, Daisy, and Hikari were waiting. Immediately, Ken took a couple steps towards Takeru and jumped up in the air, Takeru copying him, the two of them colliding in the air.

"Alright, buddy, you got the best of me here," Ken admitted, slapping him on the shoulder a few times. "Next season, the Premier League belongs to me."

"Hey, you can still get in, right?" Takeru pointed out.

Ken shook his head. "I...I'd have to win the last heat and have everything break just right, looks like." He shrugged. "Not really counting on it."

"Don't forget, you only need top twelve, you can get into the heads up playoff," Takeru added. "Alright, mission accomplished." He leaned over and gave Daisy a hug.

"I made like two hundred grand tonight on baccarat," Hikari added, raising her right hand up in the air.

Ken laughed. "Wow, you...you made more money than TK! That's awesome!"

Hikari shrugged. "Just went with my gut. I have a very good gut, so it would seem."

Takeru sighed, going over to Hikari's side. "Alright, let's...let's head back home. My work here is done for the time being."

"I'm sticking around tonight, my heat's tomorrow," Ken said. "You, uh...you think we're in the clear?" He glanced around the empty hallway for a moment.

Takeru took in a deep breath, letting it out before speaking. "He's not getting away from this one, it's too big. Too many pieces. Lot of people are going down with him, and they're not exactly happy that Michael was holding information over their heads as collateral. All in all, it broke perfectly for us. I think we can breathe pretty easy."

"You coming with us, Daisy?" Hikari asked, looking up at the taller woman.

Daisy grimaced for a moment, then shook her head. "It's time for me to resume my career, I...I don't want to get away from it for too long. I've got a tournament to play in tomorrow, I need to build some results."

"Alright, best of luck," Hikari said. "Both of you."

"And, buddy..." Daisy looked up at Takeru for a moment. "...you did the right thing. No matter what happens now, you did the right thing."

Takeru gave a quick, brief smile, then nodded and wrapped his arm around Hikari's shoulders. "See you guys around."

OOO

~Hikari~

It was nice to fly in luxury once again.

Sure, she didn't mind the packed fuselages of commercial flights, it was still many times nicer than the living quarters she had known most of her life, but there was something comforting about the fine polished wood finishes on the surfaces around her, the ability to get up and move around a large, open area at any time, and access to food and drink whenever desired. She truly understood how good Takeru, and the people in his position, had it over everyone else in the world.

Takeru was laying back on the small bed in the back room of the jet, staring up at the ceiling. Hikari was seated in the lone chair in the room, leaning over towards him.

"So, where are we off to next?" Hikari asked. "Panok? I'd love to go back there, I'm almost starting to resent the absence of hundred degree weather. How many tournaments do you think you can fit in between now and the Premier League final?"

Takeru thought for a moment. "I might...I might take some time off."

Hikari nodded. "You certainly deserve it. That's not a bad idea, take a week or so. I could spend some good time with my brother, you can rest up, and...you know, I want to say it again, I...as someone who was there the entire time, congratulations on wriggling your way out of this. Really, you really showed a lot of heart in figuring it out and actually following through with it." She thought for a moment. "I have a lot of reasons to respect you, and this was another one. I think a lot of people in your position would have crumbled and...given up."

Takeru bit the inside of his cheek for a moment.

"It had to be worth it, right?" Takeru asked.

Hikari wrinkled her brow. "Of course, how...what do you mean?"

Takeru sat up, looking vaguely confused. He sighed. "Well, I suppose it must have been." He looked over at Hikari. "I've, uh...I lost my girlfriend over it, so it wasn't free."

Hikari's eyebrow raised up a couple centimeter. "W-w-wait, did...Daisy?"

Takeru nodded. "We talked about it the last few days, and...there's nothing else that can be done. We both agreed."

"S-she's...is she mad at you? I didn't feel she was upset with you at all, that'd surprise me." Hikari leaned forward even closer.

"No, not upset at all." He sighed. "In fact, I...I brought this up, so maybe I'm the stupid one. Could have just zipped it, everything would have been back to the way it was." He gave a tiny laugh. "I realized something awhile ago, even before the breakthrough with Hub. Even if I managed to figure this whole thing out and...get out scot-free, with everything falling into place perfectly...it doesn't matter. I've changed things in my life. I've gotten involved in the dark side of running a massive casino, in a way even my father wasn't." He pointed over at Hikari. "In the history of the world, running large casinos has always been tied to the darker sides of society. You get involved with criminals, you use dirty tactics to run out the cheaters, you get funded by the mob, all of it, but...what I've done is even deeper than all of that."

"But you won," Hikari said. "You took that all on, and you took down their whole system, that's...the whole thing is tumbling down, like you said."

Takeru nodded. "Sure. I won, but I still got involved in some very nasty business." He tilted his head to the side. "And I'm fine with that, I...well, maybe not fine with *this*, but whatever. I was always planning to inheirit The Mecca, it's not surprising that I'd end up around unsavory people. Maybe even become a little bit of one myself in the process." He thought. "Maybe it's even good that I ended up taking them down instead of just standing alongside them, but...Daisy's not any of that. She was born to a supermodel, raised in a...bright, cheery, happy, optimistic world." He shook his head. "This isn't something that she can reasonably expect to put herself through."

Hikari remained confused, feeling as if she was missing something. "It's over, though. You got involved with bad people, you beat them, you exposed them, you came out on top, it's...it's done. You said it yourself, the people Michael worked with are going down too. And they're upset at Michael more than you, he's the reason they went down."

Takeru gave a wan smile, laying back down on the bed. "I did say that. Felt good to say, it sounds good when it comes out of your mouth." He nodded. "It's...mostly true. The people who could have likely come after me in retaliation for what happened with Gandolphini, they're in a lot of trouble too. Gonna be hard for them to think about me when they're trying to salvage their own lives. They could easily direct their anger at Michael, too."

"So...what's Daisy's problem?" Hikari asked.

Takeru bit down on his lower lip. "I can't be sure. I can say all of that, I can have good reasons behind thinking it, I can be pretty sure it's the case, but...and I didn't really realize this until recently, but when I decided to do what I did, I was basically signing up for a lifelong risk." He reached over, pulling a grape from a small plate on the table beside his bed and popping it into his mouth. "The Bosses had thousands...tens of thousands of people who they worked with semi-frequently. Bottom line is, some of them are going to get off light. Some of them might get off completely. Many are going to eventually work their way out of whatever trouble they get in, even if it takes decades. And somewhere in that group of people, there's going to be someone, some...loyalist, someone with a strong devotion to their...Omerta. And this person is going to blame me for what happened. And even though it doesn't matter anymore, even though it won't help anything...they could decide, let's at least make sure he suffers for what he did to us."

Hikari put her hand up to her mouth, looking over at Takeru intently as he continued to talk.

"Could be one person, could be a few people, could be a lot. I don't know, but it's a matter of public record that I was involved in this." He sat back up, looking over at Hikari. "So I realized that...no matter what, no matter how cleanly I was able to resolve this...it's always a possibility that one day in the future, I'm going to wake up in the middle of the night with a masked man holding a gun to my head, whispering some one-liner." He sighed. "But, at the end of the day, even if I wasn't aware of it at the time, I signed up for it. I did it to protect what my father built and what I would inherit, so I'll deal with it. But Daisy, she's...she's just not built for that kind of life. She didn't ask for it, and she didn't agree to it. She doesn't deserve it." He shuddered. "She already went through it once, look what it did. I can't possibly ask her to potentially go through that again."

Hikari sighed. "I see. Well, I...it took courage and maturity on your part to figure all this out."

"So, I told her all this. Explained the risks, explained the potential problems, and...you know, she says she still loves me and cares for me very much, but she agreed." He looked over at Hikari. "She can't put herself in that position, after going through it once already. She'd spend every day of her life in fear, looking over her shoulder, jumping at shadows, and she can't do it." He gave a nod with some finality to it. "So, we're friends. Close friends. We'll always be friends, that can never change. But if this masked man ever does come to visit me, I just don't want her laying in the bed next to me. If there are consequences for what I did, I can accept them, but I can't ask her to take them as well. Even if there's just a tiny chance, then...she just can't stomach it."

"I'm sorry," Hikari said. "That can't be easy for you."

Takeru gave a sour laugh. "And then I kind of realized, it applies for everyone else in the world, too. Yeah, Daisy, I've known her forever, I really don't want it to be her, but...anyone else, I wouldn't want them with me when that day comes." He bit on his inner cheek. "It's almost like I can't be with anyone now, or...at least, I almost have to come with a warning label. Hey, I'm Takeru Ishida, you wanna date me? You should know, I might be the target of an assassin who could strike at any time, the kind of assassin who won't care for living witnesses." He rolled his eyes. "I'll have a lot of luck with that, won't I? That's what I mean, I...I did so much good, it had to be worth it. But now, I'm thinking about what it means for me personally, and...this sucks. Who can I even date without feeling terrible for putting them in the line of fire?"

A long silence hung in the room, the two pondering things.

"When we get back to The Mecca, you can have anything you want set up for you, by the way," Takeru added.

"Huh?" Hikari asked.

"It applies to you too," Takeru explained. "You're close to me, you're spending almost all your time with me, it could be you who gets caught in the crossfire just as easily." He sat up into a sitting position. "I've grown rather fond of you, I don't want anything bad to happen to you either. So, if you want out...when we get back, I can set you up anywhere in the world. You and your brother. You won't have to worry about money, that's...you've helped me win so much money, that's not a problem."

"I'm not leaving now," Hikari said dismissively. "I stayed with you through the worst of it, you think I'm getting scared now?" She pulled the chair closer to him, reaching over to grab his shoulder. "I'm not afraid of something that might happen. And don't be over-dramatic, you're still Takeru Ishida. Believe me, I know, Daisy was really special, but someone like you isn't going to have a problem finding someone very special."

Takeru snorted. "Most people aren't up to risking their lives in order to be in a relationship. Not like this."

"You're...you're a millionaire, your parents are millionaires, you're a celebrity, you're one of the best in the world at what you do, you're gorgeous, I...I really think you're over-reacting. A ton of girls would take that deal." She nodded. "I mean, I certainly would."

Takeru sighed, cheeks puffing out a bit. "I don't know, I..." he paused for a moment. "Wait, what?"

"Okay, I'm a bad example," Hikari continued. "I've had a shit life, I'm used to things being terrible, so...but I can't be the only young woman who would take that deal, that's my point." She moved her hands around animatedly. "You never have to worry about money, you get to hold hands with you as you go to some of the coolest places in the world, you get to make yourself famous if you want, I...Daisy nearly got set on fire, she personally went through it, it's different. I'll bet thousands of amazing young women would take that deal."

"Like, you would?" Takeru reiterated. "That's what you said?"

Hikari rolled her eyes. "Alright, I get it, that was a bad example. But I stand by my point."

Takeru's mouth moved around, a couple millimeters to the left and right on his face, eyes rolling downward slightly.

"I mean, look at you!" Hikari continued. "Do I really need to sit here and remind you that you look like the underwear models on the billboards in Panok, and—"

"Okay," Takeru said, looking back up at her. "Alright."

Hikari blinked a few times. "What?"

"Okay," Takeru repeated. "You said you would take that deal, you'd take that risk, I...okay."

Hikari froze, blinkly rapidly a few times.

"I mean, why not?" Takeru asked, sitting up even more and leaning in towards her. "I've known you long enough to know how special you are, we make a great team, I...alright."

"No no no, I was just...making an example," Hikari said, waving her hand towards Takeru. "Like I said, a bad one, you don't have to drag the bottom of the barrel to find a woman who will accept a bit of risk in being with you. Don't be silly."

"I'm not," Takeru insisted, pulling his legs over the side of the bed. "I'm serious. You say you'd take that risk, I'm saying...I'm on board."

Hikari felt herself going slightly red, reaching up to cover her cheek with her right hand. "O-oh, don't, we both know that...obviously, you should be with a...rich young supermodel, or something." She thought for a moment. "Maybe a literal princess, even...come on, you haven't even left your jet, you're really just gonna settle for the first thing you see?"

"Who's settling?" Takeru asked. "All I'm doing is looking at a smart, fun, capable, brave young woman who says she'd have me. And I'm making a decision. That's all."

"Hey, there are...dozens of beautiful professional poker players your age out there, don't you think you should at least—"

"What do I care?" Takeru shrugged. "You're here, and they're not." He leaned up even closer to her. "You went through hell with me, and you stood by me, and I couldn't have made it without you. That means something to me. I wasn't kidding when I said I had grown fond of you recently. That statement can go a lot of different ways, and if you say you're not afraid of my baggage, then I'm offering the opportunity."

Hikari looked over towards the wall to her right for a moment. "Uh...TK, think about it, I...think about who you are, think about how people...perceive you, I...surely your parents wouldn't approve."

Takeru gave a loud snort, punctuating it with a few laughs. "Okay, now that's funny."

Hikari gave Takeru an odd look. "Really?"

"Yeah, um...short of me carving my way through a list of professional porn stars and bringing home every sexually transmitted disease known to man, I'm pretty sure my parents don't give a damn about my love life." He nodded. "You know I'm not a literal prince, right? I don't have to...marry a princess to unite the kingdoms or something."

Hikari looked down at the floor, unconsciously playing with her hair. "I'm...still, I'm a nobody."

"Millions of people in the world know who you are," Takeru pointed out. "You've been on television dozens of times, tons of people know your name and your relationship to me, you...you've played a significant role in events that people pay attention to."

"I'm the girl in the background," Hikari insisted, shrugging. "I'm the person who just stands there, you...you can do better than that."

Takeru shrugged. "Sure. You're the girl in the background. Maybe. A year ago, you were a house slave. Nine months ago, you were a field hand. Six months ago, you were a prostitute. And these last six months, you've been the girl on the rail, watching." He reached forward, running his fingers through her hair. "And now, today...today, you can be something else."

Hikari swallowed down hard.

"Nobody cares what you were, Hikari," Takeru continued. "What you were last year, last month, yesterday...nobody's going to care. These last six months, you've been my good luck charm. Now, if you want it, you can be my girlfriend. And then, what will you be six months from now?"

Hikari softly bit her lower lip, feeling her face heat up as Takeru continued. "Still...still a—"

"What do you want to be?" Takeru asked. "You have an entire world of potential in front of you now. You want to be a singer, dancer, scientist, doctor, a goddamn astronaut, you name it. What would stop you? Whatever you want to be, you'll be able to get there now. And then, when people saw you out in public, what would they think? You think they're care what you were?"

Hikari felt a weight lifting off of her chest, almost physically feeling her life being transformed as Takeru spoke.

"So, Hikari. Hikari, the...supermodel. Hikari the accountant. Hikari the self-defense expert. Fill in the blank. What are you going to be in a year? A month?" He looked her deep in the eyes. "What are you going to be tomorrow?"

Hikari broke the stare for a moment, looking down and breaking into a grin. "I guess I should...I should learn how to take yes for an answer, right?"

Takeru smiled back, nodding. "Alright, Hikari the fill-in-the-blank. Now, given that we've gotten to know each other so well recently, you don't suppose we could fast-forward a bit to the—"

Hikari leaned in to Takeru, pressing her lips into his, enjoying his clear surprise and unpreparedness. She pressed her weight into him, forcing him back on the bed, only pulling away when he was flat on his back.

"Tastes so much better when I don't have to share it with anyone else," Hikari mused, laying down atop Takeru.

"Funny," Takeru replied, grinning. "I was thinking the exact same thing."

OOO

~Takeru~

Self-consciously pulling the front of his bathrobe closed over his chest, Takeru knocked on the door leading to the cockpit of the jet. "Hey, Frank?"

"Yes, Mister Ishida?" The reply buzzed through from a small set of speakers right above the door.

"Hey, uh...change of plans," Takeru said, glancing over his shoulder towards the bedroom door he had just left from. "We're not going back to The Mecca yet."

"Sounds good to me, sir," the pilot replied. "New destination?"

"Uh...you know where the summer beachhouse is, right?" Takeru asked. "In that chain of islands like fifty miles west of Panok?"

"Of course I do, sir. Should I set a course?"

Takeru nodded, suddenly realizing that the pilot couldn't actually see him. "Uh, yes. I need a vacation, place like that seems just perfect."

"Will do, sir."

Takeru took in a deep breath. "Thank you, Frank. Drop us off, and...oh, come back for us in six days, maybe." He spun around and took long, quick strides back towards the back of the jet.


	51. Telling a Convincing Story

Chapter 51: Telling a Convincing Story

~Hikari~

Sometimes, the simplest things were nice.

Okay, maybe it wasn't exactly simple. The Ishida Beachhouse was an opulent home, almost criminally so for a house that was only occupied for maybe a month over the course of a year. A three-story structure with enough room to hold at least a couple dozen people, it was most certainly overkill for just two young adults, a couple servants, and a small group of security guards. And the private beach behind the house would have been enough to provide the primary tourist attraction for a small town.

But what was simple was the very basic appeal of carnal delights. Far away from the large population centers that they had been in almost exclusively in recent times, where nobody could bother them, the last few days had largely been dedicated to the two of them engaging in repeated intercourse. Maybe there wasn't much to it, but now that Hikari was free to simply enjoy the process instead of letting her mind race with thoughts of discomfort, she could fully appreciate Takeru's considerable experience and talents. Besides, after the last month, getting a few days of nothing but releasing tension was welcome.

"Yes, I know she's mad at me, all the more reason for me to not come home right now," Takeru said, holding a small black device up to his ear. Most of his body was underneath the blanket of the large, four-poster bed, Hikari leaning up behind him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I'm having a great time here, this is exactly what I needed. Obviously, I'm gonna come home eventually, I'll deal with it."

Takeru looked over his shoulder, over at Hikari. "I know it's a bit odd, but things have changed lately. Just...just get that guest room cleared out, we never use it anyway." He shifted around a bit underneath the blanket. "I'm not having her live in The Angels Suite, she's living on the top floor with us, I'm serious. Alright, thank you. See you in a few days."

Takeru tossed the device up onto the end table next to his head. "Alright, darling. You've officially managed to sleep your way to the top of the tower. You're bunking with me, and one of the guest rooms is being cleared out for your things."

Hikari gave a little snort. "Things? You're clearing out a room for my things?" She smiled. "I have like...six outfits and two pairs of shoes. Clear out a cubbyhole in your closet and we're good."

"Maybe now," Takeru countered. "Not when I'm done with you. You're a rich girl now. When things slow down, first thing, you're taking a trip to Browning Way, hitting every single store down the strip." He rolled over, rotating his body towards hers. "You're gonna fill an entire room with clothes. You're gonna have an entire shelf system dedicated to shoes, fifty pairs of shoes minimum."

"I don't even like wearing shoes," Hikari protested, though without much resistance.

"Doesn't matter," Takeru insisted. "You're filling an entire chest with jewelry too. You don't have to wear them, but so help me God, you *will* have things to show off to your girlfriends when you invite them over. And I'm not moving forward in the world with a girlfriend who isn't incredibly spoiled."

Hikari rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess I'll just have to grin and bear it."

"You're about to find something out about me," Takeru added. "This romance thing, I'm only really good at two things. Sex, and spending copious amounts of money. I can hump your brains out, I can buy you all the expensive shit you want, not good at anything else. Just warning you."

Hikari gave a little laugh. "I mean, I'll take it."

Takeru leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. "When we get back to The Mecca, you can tell your brother that he's free to do what he pleases with his life now."

"Oh, forget that," Hikari replied. "He's my personal manservant from now on. He's spending the rest of his life constantly re-organizing this room full of clothes I'm supposed to have."

Takeru smiled. "What do you think he's going to want to do? Do you think he could handle a job with the family business?"

Hikari pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. "You know, I...it's hard to know. He's spent his whole life being told what to do by someone, it's hard to know what he would do if it was up to him."

"We could always have him follow my brother around and tell him how good his music sounds," Takeru suggested. "Keep his confidence up, he could definitely use that."

"Just...just give him some freedom. He'll be amazed by it, who knows what he'll do," Hikari said. "In fact, make sure you keep an eye on him, he might do something stupid."

"So, what do *you* want to do?" Takeru asked. "That's what I really care about, what would make you happy? Anything you want to do with your life, you have my full backing. Money and time are no object."

Hikari thought for a moment. "You're giving me too many options. You've told me I can do anything, and...it just makes me want to do nothing!"

Takeru laughed. "They do have options for academy-level education courses you can take from home. Personally, I think you're doing just fine in that department, but...there's always that." He rolled over slightly, letting her go atop him. "I mean, if you ever want to join me on the felt, that's something I'm the most well-equipped to help with."

"You do make it look awful cool," Hikari admitted. "But I don't know if I have the...mental capacity for what you do."

"You might surprise yourself." Takeru glanced around for a moment. "Okay, less talk-y, more hump-y?"

"Yeah, yeah, let's go," Hikari said. "I knew you liked sex, but...if it was up to you, you'd never stop, would you?"

Takeru shrugged. "I'm good at two things. Poker and sex. I wanna be doing one thing or the other thing as much as possible."

"I'll give you that much," Hikari admitted. "You are good at it."

OOO

"I'm not saying we literally did nothing but have sex for six days," Takeru insisted, glancing over his shoulder towards the green oval table for a moment. "I just can't recall specifically doing anything else, that's all."

"Oh, w-well, that's much different," Ken said, hands reaching forward and grabbing onto the rail. "Your depravity knows no bounds, good sir."

"Sure it does," Takeru protested. "Six days!"

"Me and Miyako called it good after four days, so I guess you win again," Ken said wryly. "Anyway, am I safe in assuming that you two are...you're on?"

"Obviously," Takeru said dryly. "We just spent a week swapping tartar sauce, I'm pretty sure there's no other way to take that."

"Not necessarily," Ken said defensively. "Also, disgusting."

Hikari wrinkled her nose a bit as well, although the immature side of her couldn't entirely stop a small smile from coming to her face.

"My brother uses that one a lot," Takeru said quietly. "But, yes." He pointed over at Hikari. "You can treat her like a first-class citizen now, she's one of us."

"Oh, that's gonna be really hard to do," Ken said, pursing his lips. He turned to look at Hikari. "You know, it's actually kind of tough, in my head."

"What, treating her like a full-fledged person?" Takeru asked.

"No, no...you're just...Hikari, you're too *good*. Like, you going off to an isolated vacation home with him and getting at it, hard for me to imagine."

"Well, it happened," Hikari assured him. "I don't know what you're talking about, though. I assure you I had a good time."

"Like, it's you," Ken continued. "I can hardly even imagine that you *have* sex."

At that moment, Daisy descended down the stairs to the front row of the bleacher seating, holding a bag of assorted nuts in her right hand. Ken glanced over towards her as she moved into her seat.

"On the other hand..." Ken trailed off, gesturing his head over towards Daisy.

"What?" Daisy asked, pursing her lips over at Ken.

"Nothing," Ken said.

"Hey there," Takeru said, leaning forward and grabbing onto Daisy's left arm. "Time to kick ass."

"We got your back," Daisy said, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "But you better show up today, you've had a week off."

"Hey, you had a month off, I haven't exactly heard about you winning any titles the last week!" Takeru countered.

"I'm pacing myself," Daisy said. "Alright, tiger, go get it. Bring it home."

"Two point one million out there. Almost seems piteous right now," Takeru joked, backstepping a few steps before turning around and making his way over to his seat at the table.

"I might need to do One Drop next year just so I can catch up to him," Ken muttered. "I can't just let him...run away with all these accolades over the top of me like this."

Daisy pulled open the bag of nuts, glancing over at Hikari to her immediate left. "Congratulations, by the way."

"O-oh, you...you already know?" Hikari said, leaning back in her seat as Takeru shrugged off his suit jacket.

"Not exactly hard to figure out," Daisy said with a small smile over at her. "He goes on a sudden vacation to his beachhouse and only brings you? Stays there a week?" She gave a dismissively little head shake. "I've been to the beachhouse, there's *nothing* out there that could keep TK occupied for a week."

Hikari slowly nodded. "It's beautiful out there though." She blinked a few times. "So, you're not...I don't have to worry about the jealous ex-girlfriend thing?"

Daisy shook her head. "Sweetie, I...just be good to him, and make sure he's good to you. You do that, I'm not saying a word. You don't have to worry about me." She popped one of the snacks into her mouth. "Don't misunderstand, I am jealous, but...well, I've had to make some decisions lately. And I may not have loved the ones I made, but at least I got to make them."

Hikari nodded, relieved that she wouldn't just have to immediately change the subject and avoid the topic altogether. "He, uh...he didn't say a word about him and you until after it was over, I promise. I had no idea, I didn't have anything to do with anything."

"Oh, of course I don't think it was about you. It wasn't," Daisy insisted. "Look, I chose this. I'm not happy about it, but I still chose it." She gave a small laugh. "What am I gonna do, kidnap TK and have him tied up in my basement, so nobody else can have him just because I can't?"

Hikari snorted. "Well, after what I've seen the last week, it could be argued that he's into that," Hikari mumbled, self-consciously looking over her shoulder. "I mean, not that I'm complaining, but...wow."

Daisy nodded. "But like I said, just do right by him and see to it that he does right by you. He's precious to me, and I wish things could have gone another way, but it is what it is. I still care for him, I care for you, as long as you two are happy, then I'm happy with it." She reached over and patted her on the back. "Hey, if you ever need guidance on how to act like a rich girl, you just come to me, I know it's gonna be a big transition."

Hikari thought for a moment. "I mean, really, you're not...upset at him about the whole mob thing? That's really not why this happened?"

Daisy sighed. "I'm not *happy* about any of that, but...I'm a certain kind of person, I've lived a certain way, I've been raised a certain way, and there are things that are just too far out of my comfort zone." She puffed out another large breath, watching Takeru take in his first hand and quickly fold it over to the dealer. "I'm a model, an actress, a public figure. Yeah, I'm a poker player too, but...my life has been about getting people to like me. They see me in a magazine or on a poster and think...wow, she's really attractive, her presence has made me desire this product. They see me in television shows and appreciate my performance enough to motivate them to watch it. There's nothing in there about...handling the fact that a vengeful hitman might be coming to kill you and your boyfriend. I can't handle that. I'm not built for it."

Hikari swallowed down hard. "TK's not built for it either, believe me. I think it kills him that he didn't realize this could happen when he took this on."

"I can't spend the rest of my life having this nagging fear in the back of my head," Daisy continued. "That's not me. It's not an indictment of TK at all, it's just...it's the situation." She looked over at Hikari. "Honestly, I'm jealous of you! I don't know how you do it, you look down the barrel of all of these potential futures, and you decide you're willing to risk it. I wish I could do that!"

Hikari thought for a moment, mouth wrinkling. "I felt like I was facing death every day for twenty years." She sighed. "Maybe I wasn't, but it sure felt like it. That never really goes away, that instilled fear of death is a huge weapon that they have over you. It's not like you ever realized one day...they're not actually going to kill you, you don't have to worry about it. It was more like, we got numb to it, and took it as a part of life. So I'm used to feeling like my life is at risk. That's nothing to be jealous of, don't be jealous of that."

"I am," she insisted. "You can come up with whatever justification you want for it, but it takes real courage to stand by someone when you know that standing with them might put your life at risk. And I don't have it, and you do."

Hikari smiled. "At least now I'll be able to really live, you know? Make every day really count. Just make the most of whatever time I do have. Five years or fifty years, I just have to really try to enjoy it." She shrugged. "Either all that, or...TK's just really, really hot, and I'm nearsighted enough to not care the looming threats right around the corner so I can have fun with him for awhile."

"That'd be understandable," Daisy said with a small laugh. "But whatever it is, just know that I might be jealous, but I'm not resentful. You've always got a friend in me."

Hikari nodded, watching the action at the table for a moment. "If it helps, I'm jealous of your breasts," she deadpanned.

Daisy nodded, also turning to watch the initial hands of the final table. "They are pretty great, yeah."

"And your hair," Hikari added.

"You've got nice hair, though," Daisy pointed out.

"Your hair looks like it was spun by angels out of solid gold," Hikari countered.

"Am I gonna have to listen to this the whole final table?" Ken asked, turning to look at the two young women.

"Oh, you know you love it," Daisy said. "Don't act like that."

"Oh, by the way," Hikari said. "TK said he was gonna make me hit Browning Way after the Premier League final, buy some things. Seems like this is kind of your thing, you wanna come?"

"I've waited my entire life to hear someone say that to me," Daisy said wryly.

OOO

Takeru tossed in one yellow chip, taking back four blues as he did so.

"Ace seven offsuit, good enough for Takeru to defend his big blind. You know, Jeff Irwin, played very tight and passively in his four heats in this Premier League, he's come out firing so far in the final."

"I promise I'm gonna talk about the details, just...I'm not gonna do it now, at the final table of a super high roller poker tournament!" Takeru insisted, looking over to his right. "Trust me, you're all gonna hear about it! And it is a really fascinating story, so I will be sharing it, but now isn't the time for me to get into it."

Meanwhile, the dealer put out the four of spades, nine of hearts, and seven of diamonds.

"Takeru continues to be questioned on all sides about his involvement in the ongoing Poker Hub scandal. Meanwhile, he's flopped middle pair, pair of sevens, Jeff Irwin's pocket fives are second best."

Takeru tapped the felt a few times.

"It must feel awesome, to be part of exposing something like that," Dan White said, looking over at Takeru.

"It feels awesome now, trust me, it definitely didn't feel awesome while it was happening." He rolled his eyes. "I thought I was gonna die, multiple times."

"Ishida with the multi-tasking, conversing while being involved in a pot. Jeff's getting a bet together, this looks like a great flop for two fives, he can definitely push Takeru off of the king jacks, queen jacks, king queens, hands like that."

Jeff pushed out eight blue chips.

"Eight thousand into twenty-one thousand, Takeru's definitely not folding for that price. I suspect that it'll go check-check-check-check after this, unless one of their hands improve."

Takeru looked over at the eight blue chips from Jeff Irwin, then tossed out one yellow.

"Jeff accumulated the most points in this year's Premier League, so he started this table as the chip leader, about one hundred and thirty big blinds, still has around that amount. Takeru came in with a very reasonable one hundred and two big blinds, another one of the bigger stacks. So both players are quite deep."

With thirty-seven thousand chips in the middle, the dealer burned and turned a queen of hearts.

"Bad card for both players on the turn. Probably worse for Takeru, Irwin has a lot of hands with a queen in them that he continuation-bet the flop with."

"Yeah, Jeff has a lot of queens in his range at this point, Takeru could have ace queen and that's about it. I still kind of think this is gonna go check-check, unless..."

Takeru checked again, tapping his hand on the table a few times, prompting Jeff to reach down for chips.

"If Jeff bets here, he's probably turning his hand into a bluff, there are very few worse hands that Takeru would even think about calling with. Of course, really, there aren't very many better hands that Takeru will fold, so...it's pretty thin."

Irwin put out two yellow chips.

"Twenty thousand, and...this is not something we've seen from Jeff so far in this Premier League, double-barreling with a small pair like this. I think in any of his four heats, he would have shut down here, but...I mean, it might work."

Takeru stared over at Jeff, breaking off of the conversation with his opponents to focus on the hand.

"I mean, tightest player at the table, he's raised before the flop, he's bet a dry flop, he bets the turn, you've got third pair...I would certainly be folding. But we know that folding isn't really Takeru's thing, he likes to call, he likes to figure things out."

Takeru tossed two yellow chips towards the dealer as well.

"Seventy-seven thousand, this pot is officially a big deal, and we're going to the river!"

A deuce of diamonds hit.

"Well, there's a brick. Takeru checks very quickly here, and I have no idea what Irwin's gonna do. He MUST realize he's behind with a pair of fives, right?"

"A pair of fives can beat...ten eight of hearts, ace king of hearts, five six of hearts, and that's about it, you COULD just check and hope he's got something like that. But that's it, unless it's one of those three hands, checking is basically surrendering. Of course, there might not be all that many better hands that Takeru's folding when he's still got this many chips behind."

Jeff looked back down at his hand, then over at Takeru.

"He's really taking his time with this decision, and...it makes sense. He feels like he's got to bet to win, and he's correct, but...Takeru's just really, really good at figuring things out and making hero calls."

Jeff finally tapped the table a few times. "Pair of fives," he said, turning to Takeru.

Takeru picked up and turned over his hand.

"Takeru will take the pot, and Jeff will forever wonder if a third barrel would have worked. Takeru is now approaching chip leader status, and nobody in this tournament wants to deal with that."

OOO

"Ten players entered, eight players remain, next out picks up just shy of three hundred grand, it's the Premier League final!"

"It's not like I did it one hundred percent out of the goodness of my heart," Takeru said, looking down at the king of diamonds and jack of hearts. "Maybe like, seventy percent that, but Big Stack Poker is gonna be a huge winner in all this. I'm sure you guys all know that." He tossed in one yellow chip and two blue chips.

"Minimum raise from Takeru with the king jack in early position, as he continues to drop tantalizing hints about his adventures in taking on the mob without giving away the good stuff."

"Oh yeah, only a few million orphaned customers out there," Dan White agreed. "That'll go nice with your part ownership of Big Stack."

"We might end up absorbing Hub," Takeru continued. "Just absorbing the site, picking up all the old customers, integrating them into our site." His eyebrows raised up and down a few times. "That'll go REAL nice."

Patrick Butler put all of his remaining chips into one stack, then pushed this stack out, after seeing the ace and six of hearts in his hand.

"Patrick Butler, his last seventy-nine thousand chips, they're now all in the middle with ace six suited. Less than fifteen big blinds left after he got rivered a few minutes ago by Dan White, kind of had to do it."

A few folds went around the table in short order, leading back around to Takeru. "How much more? Sixty-seven?"

"And that's not enough chips to get Takeru to fold, king jack is good enough, he's certainly gonna call."

"Yeah yeah, I call," Takeru announced, turning over his cards. Patrick flipped his up.

"And...George Strait folded ace six, humorously enough, so that's a couple cards that Patrick wants to see in the muck, so we've got roughly a coin flip. Takeru's only risking about fifteen percent of his stack, has a chance to knock out another player."

"Run it twice?" Patrick asked with a laugh.

"Would if we could," Takeru replied, as the dealer put out the queen of hearts, queen of spades, and four of hearts.

"Great flop for Patrick, makes a flush draw to go with his ace high. If he holds here, he'll be back up to thirty blinds, more than enough to play some real poker and stick around. Big deal for him."

The dealer motioned to pull and slap out the turn card, then hesitated for a brief moment, pulling the card back towards the deck, then putting out the seven of spades.

"Heyheyheyhey!" Takeru said, pointing down at the card that had just come out. "What was, what was that?!" He had a large grin on his face, looking up at the dealer.

"I, I grabbed two cards by accident," the dealer said, laughing himself. "I had to put the second card back on the deck."

Takeru laughed a few times, looking over at Patrick. "He looked at it and was like, oh, I can't put THAT card out, card switch!"

Patrick was laughing as well. "You know this is my home town, right? I come from here. It's home-field advantage!"

Takeru looked back up at the dealer. "Hey, when you're done, I wanna see the third burn. We all just know it was, like, the jack of spades, and he went, oh, can't put that one out there! These are some CRAZY shenanigans up in here!"

"Well, Takeru's having fun, but unless he hits a non-heart king or a jack on this river, he will be sending a handful of chips over to Patrick Butler."

"Just, after this river, slide the third burn card over, it's TOTALLY gonna be a king or jack." Takeru watched the dealer put out the ten of diamonds. He then pushed the third burn card over to Takeru.

"Everyone's good, right?" Takeru said, looking around the table, then tossing the card face up in the middle of the table. King of spades. "See! I knew it!"

"Oooohhhh, Takeru, even...even when he loses, he gets it right."

"See, it was basically a given!" Takeru said, pushing a few chips out towards the dealer. "He looked at it and was like, oh, can't put THAT card out, gimme another one!" He looked over at Patrick. "Nice hand, man."

OOO

"Takeru loves the min-raise, has been sticking to that pretty reliably so far. It's indicative of how confident he is in his abilities, isn't it?"

Takeru took a second look at the ace of spades and seven of clubs before sliding them in front of him. A yellow chip and six blue chips were out in front of him.

"Yeah, generally speaking...the better players will make smaller raises because they feel like they're more capable of figuring things out and want to give themselves as much play as possible. And Takeru's gotten a touch short here, he's trying to preserve as much of his stack as possible."

The button folded, leaving Jeff Irwin to consider the king of spades and queen of diamonds from the small blind.

"Yeah, the big blind is...eight thousand now, Takeru's got around four hundred thousand chips, so he's not in danger yet, but it's getting uncomfortable. Six players left, he's got the fourth-most chips, he does have to...come up with a strategy on how he wants to procede. I'm sure he's more interested in winning than laddering, especially after hitting that five million dollar title a couple weeks ago."

Jeff called, and Dan White followed up with a call from the big blind with six five of hearts.

"Takeru picks up two callers, we've got sixty grand in the middle. Takeru's in the lead with ace high. Also the effective stack with about three hundred and eighty-five thousand back."

Five of spades, four of hearts, eight of hearts.

"Oh my LORD, what a flop for chip leader Dan White. Middle pair and an inside straight FLUSH draw, wow. Almost as good a flop as there is for a hand like his."

Jeff and Dan both checked over to Takeru.

"Jeff has missed, he's got squat, naked king high, and Takeru does have a gutshot, but...should Takeru continuation-bet here, which you would expect, he's going to get blown off this hand by Dan."

"Dan's got about a million chips, he's more than happy to play for it all, if Takeru bets I have to believe Dan's going to raise, and...you know, there's no guarantee Takeru is gonna fold ace high to a check-raise from Dan White specifically, so he could get in a lot of trouble here."

Takeru tapped his forearm a few times.

"Wow, very...very good check by Takeru. Great check. Wonder if his instincts are actually picking up on how strong Dan is."

"He could easily just be playing pot control with ace high."

The turn card, a six of diamonds, was set down on the board.

"Wow! So...Takeru makes an eight high straight, virtually the nuts, meanwhile Dan White has middle two pair and a gutshot to a straight flush, so...nobody is going anywhere."

Jeff checked again. Dan quickly checked as well.

"Dan loves his hand, but he doesn't want to go to war against someone who already has a made straight, so he's going to let Takeru at least represent that he's got a seven and try to control the size of this pot."

Takeru gathered up two yellow chips and four blue chips, tossing them forward. Jeff quickly folded.

"And obviously, Dan can never fold, but...right now, he can only really beat a bluff, so he can't blast off. Really wishing Takeru had bet the flop so he could check-raise I'm sure."

Dan pushed out six chips.

"We'll see how this river plays, but...given these hands, it's amazing that Takeru might not end up all-in this hand! Straight against two pair and a straight flush draw, these...these are two elite players who are just both incredibly aware of everything, and those abilities allow them to not go broke in a hand like this."

Jack of clubs.

"Brick on the river, Takeru's very happy with that card. Dan's left with a small two pair that serves as a bluff catcher."

Dan checked yet again.

"But it's gonna be very hard for Dan to not pay off a river bet, Takeru can absolutely have bluffs with the way this hand played out, Dan is under-represented, it's...I think he's gonna call Takeru's bet here."

Takeru reached down towards his chips.

"In my book, Takeru should put out about...sixty thousand, maybe fifty-five. I don't like going super-fat here when the board is so polarized. Just keep it small so you can get called by two pairs and sets."

Takeru put out six yellow chips.

"Yup, sixty thousand. I like this a lot, he's left himself quite a few chips behind, so this looks more like a bluff, because he's given himself some play if he gets caught. And if Dan happened to have a hand that he now wanted to turn into a bluff, it looks like he has fold equity."

Dan slid his cards back over to the dealer.

"Wow! Great fold from White there, that's...that was some very high-level poker that hand by both parties. Dan lays down two pair, Takeru didn't c-bet the flop, that was...really great stuff."

Takeru took in the pot of chips. "Good fold, buddy."

"I'll find out when I see it on television later," Dan replied, grinning. "I'm not so sure."

OOO

Takeru looked at the ace of spades and seven of clubs. "I had an overcard to the jack," he said, looking down the table to his left. "It wasn't a total bluff on the turn."

"Alright, this...this is going in. Takeru, he's gotten caught in a couple bluffs, he's got about thirteen big blinds left, four players remaining. Time to make a stand."

Takeru grabbed two yellow chips and four blue chips, tossing them in towards the dealer.

"Wow, he's...he's min-raised it. He just put in about...fifteen percent of his chips with a min-raise. HIGHLY unusual."

Jeff Irwin looked down at the ace of clubs and seven of spades.

"Oh, wow, look at this, uh...well, Takeru better hope he doesn't get called by Dan or Karl, because two of his cards are gonna be out of the deck. Jeff's folding this, right?"

"Yeah, I think so, I think he should just be getting out of the way and hoping that the other players knock each other out. He's got a medium stack, Takeru is short, and Dan and Karl are deep, just let Takeru go out first before you start mixing it up."

Jeff looked over at Takeru.

"I mean, Takeru doing this, it's actually really confusing. When you're down below fifteen big blinds, it's all supposed to be shove or fold, and...what kind of hand would you be putting Takeru on? Like, is it something he's folding? Is it a huge hand he's trying to induce with? Is it garbage he's stealing with?"

Jeff folded.

"These are the kinds of plays you can make when you have supreme confidence in your abilities, and you want to extend your ability to play poker as much as possible. He probably just doesn't want to immediately commit his tournament on an ace rag, wants to try to get a little play out of it."

"He has to have a very, very good read on how people are going to react to him doing this, or else it's terrible."

Dan looked down at the ten of spades and ten of clubs.

"Well, it's not gonna get through Dan. And this chess match between Takeru and Dan, throughout this entire final table really, has been fascinating. High level stuff, very unconventional plays."

Dan plopped out four yellow chips and two blue chips.

"Look at this, Dan's gone super-small with the three-bet. Some pretty weird stuff going on here."

"I mean, doing this helps protect against the big blind, because...now, the big blind is super restricted as to what he can play, and if he does do something you can be pretty confident that he's really got a monster. It actually puts Takeru in a really awkward position as well."

The big blind folded, putting action back onto Takeru.

"I mean, ace seven offsuit...everything kind of sucks now. Shoving sucks, because you're only getting called by better and it would be shocking if Dan didn't have better. Calling sucks, because you've got this terrible stack-to-pot ratio with a hand that flops poorly. And folding sucks, because you don't have enough chips to fold ace high in this spot."

Takeru tossed a couple yellow chips out.

"Well, he's just gonna call. He's gonna have, like, about as many chips behind as there are total chips in the middle now, so...he must be planning to fold any flop that he doesn't pair up on."

Ace of diamonds, ten of diamonds, nine of clubs.

"Oh, there it is! Top pair for Takeru, middle set for Dan, and it's all over for Ishida."

Dan checked, tapping one of his yellow chips on top of his stack of yellows.

"Yup, here comes the shove and the snap-call, and...ninety-six percent of the time, Dan White's set will hold, and Takeru will be exiting in fourth place."

"I'm all-in," Takeru announced.

"Call," Dan immediately replied, causing Takeru to bite down on his inner cheek.

"Yeah, he knows he's in trouble."

Takeru turned over his cards, Dan following suit.

"Kind of unfortunate luck for Ishida, he really did everything he could to keep from going broke in that hand. Only a couple other players in the world would have tried to protect a handful of blinds like he did, and it still just didn't work out for him. Now, he really wants to see an eight on this turn, would open things up a good amount."

Eight of hearts.

"Ohhhh, there we go! Takeru's got some life, needs a jack or a six to make a straight."

"Eight outs once, that's no problem for me," Takeru said, looking over at Dan. "Like, I know it's eighteen percent, but it really feels like...forty-five percent at least. Just so you're warned."

"Wow, if he actually wins this hand...everyone at this table is gonna clench up, I think. I know Dan White is a brilliant player and he's gonna have an absurd chip stack if he wins, but nobody wants to see Takeru start to chip up here, not with the stuff he's been doing on the poker circuit lately."

"Jack or six, one card to come, what's it gonna be?"

Queen of hearts.

"Alright, folks, you all have fun," Takeru said, standing up and reaching over to shake Dan's hand. "Peace out."

"And Takeru Ishida will be leaving us in fourth place, taking home six hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars, so he departs his first ever Premier League with just shy of seven hundred thousand in prize money. Maybe not the most significant cash of his career, or maybe not even in the top five, but the world will continue to take notice of this poker prodigy."

Takeru made his way over to his rail, immediately leaning in and hugging Hikari. "Seven hundred grand should be a pretty good start for a shopping spree."

"Oh, God, you're putting some real pressure on me," Hikari said dryly. "How in the world am I actually going to find that much stuff to buy?"

"Oh, I'll make sure you get there," Daisy said with a smirk, reaching over to rub the back of her head. "Challenge accepted."

OOO

~Hikari~

"I still want to keep drawing light onto the fact that I'm positive I'm never going to wear ninety percent of these," Hikari said, opening the rectangular cardboard box. "Like, I'm going along with it, because people keep telling me that this is just the way it has to be, but I just want everyone to understand that part of it."

"Think of it this way," Daisy suggested. "The money you spend on things you'll never need gets injected back into the economy. The factories that make it, the stores that sell it, the clerks and salespeople that make the sales, it's all good for them. So don't do it for you, do it for the economy."

Hikari pulled a pair of white, strappy heels from the box, looking them over. "Wow, that...you instantly made this whole thing far more appealing to me. Like, eight seconds, you turned me around on this whole thing, that's pretty incredible."

The shoe emporium was truly devoted to having everything an upper-class person with feet might desire, a massive area with endless rows of shelves with small boxes. It seemed like it might almost be impractical for having such a massive and expensive collection of wares, but it was just perfect for a gluttonous spree of massive purchases.

"See? She gets it," Takeru said, coming to sit down on the small bench next to Hikari. "So, anyway...you paid any mind to what you want to do next?"

Hikari turned away from Takeru for a moment, looking down at the floor. "Well...I have been thinking about it, and...I was thinking about what you said about the felt. If I'm going to be following you around the world, watching you play poker, it'd almost be silly to *not* get involved somehow myself."

"Now that's what I'm talking about," Takeru said, rubbing her shoulder. "That's what I like to hear."

She sighed, setting the shoes down on the bench to her right. "So there's that, but I'd just be...you know, it'd be a hobby for me. But I would like to at least do it as a hobby. I'm spending all this time around poker, I should, at least...do something. But I just know that there's no way I can...I can get on that level."

Takeru shrugged. "We'll start on the World Series of Poker circuit, if that's how you feel. Cut your teeth against amateurs."

"Circuit?" Hikari repeated.

"Yeah, the World Series of Poker circuit. They travel from city to city throughout the year, hold a series of tournaments...one hundred and fifty dollars, two hundred, five hundred, attracts all the novice and amateur players. See how you do there. Nothing to be afraid of there. Whatever happens, whatever you wanna do, however you want to approach anything, I wanna be there for you."

Hikari swallowed. "I-I mean, if you don't mind...spending your time thinking about tournaments that small, of course—"

"Hey, not at all," Takeru replied. "You know, a couple months ago, Koushiro said something really...really interesting and insightful to me, and it's really sticking with me right now. He talked about the...the thrill and enjoyment in giving someone things they want when they never thought they were going to have a chance to have those things. I'm sitting here in a high-end shoe store working on a fifty thousand dollar tab for you, you had never worn a pair of shoes until like six months ago! You're gonna fill an entire room with brand new clothing, a year ago you could have fit your entire wardrobe into a shoebox. You never left your owner's house for the first nineteen years of your life, now you're gonna travel the world and get to do anything you want. You're gonna enjoy doing all of that, and you know what? I'm gonna enjoy helping you do all of that. You're gonna be amazed at the things you prove to be capable of, and I'm gonna thrill in being part of that."

Hikari gave a warm smile. "You're definitely right, I...I sure never thought I'd be living like this."

"And you know, Koushiro was on point. This is fun," Takeru continued. "You're having fun, I'm having fun." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closer to him. "So, whatever in the world you want to try, anything you want to do, just...I'm there for it."

Hikari thought for a moment. "Well, while we're talking about it...I don't know where it comes from, but I've always wanted to try my hand at singing."

"Oh, well, we're gonna have to get you far away from Daisy, then," Takeru said, pulling Hikari closer, tugging her a couple inches away from the blonde on the opposite side of her. "Far, far away. Daisy, please head a few time zones away from here."

Daisy rolled her eyes, then turned back to Hikari. "I *do* have a friend who might be able to help you with that, though."


	52. Epilogue

Chapter 52: Epilogue

~Hikari~

"Alright, alright...Emmanuel Mudiay." Takeru's eyes widened for a moment. "I don't know these names, it's...kind of crazy. I've plunged myself into this world, I spend every day paying attention to it, but there's this whole other circuit that never even crosses my mind."

Hikari was perched at the foot of the bed, legs crossed in front of her, elbows resting on her knees and her head propped up in her hands. "His aggression is a little higher than average. Look at his VPIP numbers." She had a large tablet flat on the bed in front of her, the white glowing screen displaying a few charts.

"Yeah, only by a couple percentage points though," Takeru said, leaning over her shoulder and looking down at the charts she was pointing at. "Look at those thin river calls, though."

Hikari looked at one of the many columns on the chart, running her finger along the surface of the tablet. "Interesting."

"Seems like he might be a non-believer type," Takeru suggested. "That's really high." He reached over her and tapped on a couple of cells, bringing up small popup bubbles. "Let's dig into it a little bit."

The lights in the hotel room were dimmed, the light from the tablet doing more to illuminate the room than anything else. It was a good deal more humble than the hotel rooms they spent most of their time in, all of the deluxe suites occupied and booked out two months in advance. Had they been in town for one of Takeru's grand and hugely-significant tournaments, that may have been worked around, but today they were in town for another reason.

"Look at that," Takeru muttered. "Pair of threes, pair of sixes on a four-flush board, ace high, KING high...it's not just a recent thing, either." He swiped up on the tablet. "Top pair of a four-flush and four-straight board, the five of spades on a four-spade board...he doesn't like to fold on the river."

"He's a really good hand reader," Hikari surmised.

"Maybe not," Takeru replied. "Look at the results, he's wrong all the time."

Hikari picked up the tablet, running her finger along the column. "Calls into top pair, calls into the nut flush...okay, yeah."

"He's not a great reader, he just likes to call light," Takeru said. "He hates getting bluffed. These are all tournament results too, not cash games, so it's not just a matter of being able to afford it."

Hikari nodded, setting the tablet back down. "So, he doesn't let bluffs get through," she said thoughtfully. "Good to know."

"He's just been right on most of his calls this tournament, that's all," Takeru said. "So, Mudiay. Makes thin calls."

"So the idea would be to try to get thin value." Hikari looked up, over to her right. "It's all about exploiting tendencies. You learn about your opponent and you play their tendencies."

Taichi, holding a large, globe-shaped bowl half-filled with foil-wrapped chocolates, nodded. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, you should definitely do that. I approve of...of his analysis." He pointed over at Takeru.

"That bowl was full when we checked in," Hikari said.

"Do you have a point?" Taichi asked, going over to the bed and dumping out some of the contents of the bowl on the blanket next to her.

"Well, it wasn't *that*..." she trailed off, looking down wryly at the pile of sweets, before grabbing one and beginning to unwrap it. "So, what do you think of the city?"

"Paralyzing," Taichi replied. "A place like this invites me to do everything. Too many choices, I end up just doing nothing." He looked down at the bowl. "Except eat."

"You'll get used to it," Takeru assured him. "Soon, you'll be spending all of your time in places like this."

"Anyway, uh...Calvin Galloway. Wow, his track record is kind of short," Hikari said, again manipulating the surface of the tablet with a few taps. "Okay, he hasn't been playing too long."

Takeru began to look over the charts. "This is the biggest finish of his career by a longshot," Takeru said. "He hasn't been doing this much longer than you. Six months, only...three more than you."

"Seems like he's the opposite," Hikari thought aloud. "He's aggressive, but...lot of river folds."

"Lemme take a look at all this," Takeru said, taking the tablet and scrolling through some charts on the display. "There's usually a pattern."

"I can't believe you can do all this," Taichi said. "All these numbers, charts...tendencies, putting it all together and using it. You can do all this, and you were forced to spend twenty years doing labor. That's really bad, when you think about it."

"I know. I thought I was stupid too," Hikari admitted airily.

"T-that's not what I meant," Taichi said cautiously.

"No, I'm serious," Hikari replied. "I wouldn't have thought I could even wrap my head around this. Credit the teacher."

"No amount of teaching would do a lick of good to most people," Takeru stated. "Your brother's right, your talents were criminally underutilized for two decades. And I'm not just talking about cards."

"Oh, ew," Taichi said, nose wrinkling.

"Wasn't talking about that either," Takeru said, grabbing one of the foil-wrapped chocolates and throwing it at Taichi's head. "Not that I'm surprised you've got that on the brain. Anyway, he seems like he's a big tournament life kind of guy."

"Tournament life?" Hikari repeated. "He doesn't like getting it all-in?"

"He doesn't mind betting or raising all-in, but...he really hates calling all-in," Takeru said. "Hates calling it off without the nuts. And this tournament is a big deal to him, he's never had a chance to cash like this. This might be the kind of guy who gets intimidated easily."

Hikari nodded.

OOO

"Oh, this is certainly the biggest moment in the careers of all four of our remaining players. None of these four have ever cashed to this amount or gone this deep in a tournament of this significance."

Hikari pushed out one purple chip and two black chips in front of her.

"We've got four players left in the World Series of Poker Circuit Yelsbad Edition, event number eight. Three thousand five hundred players started last week, buying in for five hundred dollars a piece. Next player out gets ninety thousand dollars, but they're all playing for a grand prize of just over three hundred thousand. You might not know these players quite yet, but they're all vying for the opportunity to become known on the highest levels of competitive poker."

A round of eight cards were distributed out to each player.

"Right now, we've got the big blind, Hikari Yagami, in the danger zone. She's got less than twenty big blinds, just a bit more than a quarter of the average stack of the other three players. Emmanuel Mudiay, on the button, currently rules over the table with one hundred big blinds, just a touch over one hundred and twenty million."

With the cutoff folding, Mudiay looked down at the jack of clubs and five of diamonds.

"I'm sure the strength of Mudiay's cards won't matter too much, given he's on the button and the pot's unopened. He's got chips to spare."

Mudiay got together two purple chips and six black ones, pushing them out into the pot.

"Barely more than a min-raise, pushes it up to two point six million. Mudiay has been able to push this table around with seeming impunity for the last hour or so, nobody wants to blow off their stacks right now with a short stack sitting there."

Calvin folded his small blind, putting the action onto Hikari.

"Well, here's the short stack, Hikari, and...if you're not particularly intimidated by this young woman as a poker player based off her short resume, then you should be intimidated by her coach. Takeru Ishida, the prodigy who's absolutely taken the poker world by storm over the last year, is her boyfriend and poker instructor. Can you imagine having something like that on your side in the world series circuit?"

"It's orders of magnitude beyond what any of her opponents have, certainly. I mean, she got all the way here with only a few months of experience and seemingly no background in the game, so it's clearly counting for something."

After looking at the eight of spades and nine of diamonds, Hikari slowly considered her chip stack.

"Well, nothing feels great when you're dealing with less than twenty big blinds, but I think this is a spot to call and try to flop something. Nine eight offsuit against the most aggressive player at the table, not quite enough to three-bet, but...I think you can take a flop."

"Yeah, it's just good enough, and you have to be willing to defend with something. She knows that Mudiay is opening wide. I'd be looking to flop open-ended and check-shove, maybe flop a pair and call down with it."

Hikari pushed in a purple chip, following it with four black ones.

"Six point four million in the pot."

The dealer put down the three of clubs, four of hearts, and nine of clubs.

"Top pair for Hikari. Nothing doing for Emmanuel, he's got some backdoor draws and one overcard."

Hikari tapped the felt a few times.

"Good spot for Hikari to chip up pretty significantly here. She's got a very strong hand on this board, and Mudiay's got right near the bottom of his range. He's almost certainly going to fire out here."

Mudiay, however, waited for a few moments and checked behind, tapping the table a couple times.

"Wow, Mudiay checks it back...very curious. He can't be thinking that he has showdown value with jack high, right? Even if he does, he's never going to realize it."

"It's certainly not standard to check with such a bad hand there...he might have some sort of tell on Hikari, some sort of read that's telling him that she has a nine and isn't folding. Really, on a board that dry, there's not much he should be afraid of except a nine specifically."

The dealer burned and turned over a five of hearts.

"If Mudiay has a physical tell on Hikari that's accurate, then that's really bad news for her. She doesn't need to be dealing with something like that with this short of a stack. Meanwhile, Mudiay makes a pair on the turn, pair of fives."

Hikari looked down at the board for a few moments.

"Ace deuce and seven six just made a straight, but...now's not the time to be scared."

Hikari stacked out four purple chips, then pushed them past the yellow line in front of her, serenely looking up at the dealer as he reached over to count them out.

"Large bet from Hikari, four million into six point four. Trying to price out flush draws and straight draws?"

"That, and maybe getting those draws to shove on you. I'm sure she's going to call it off if Mudiay decides to shove, that's part of the reason to make it so big. Mudiay could very reasonably have ace-high hearts or king-high hearts and decide to jam it here."

Mudiay stared over at Hikari intently, shuffling some purple chips around.

"But what's he going to do with second pair? Pair of fives, jack kicker."

"It's a big bet, but...second pair is often good, Hikari SHOULD bet in that spot with pretty much anything, including a lot of bluffs. I don't think he can fold yet."

Mudiay shoved in four purple chips as well.

"Barring a rivered jack or five, Hikari will be taking in a significant pot at the end of this hand."

"In a way, that five is almost bad for Emmanuel, because now it takes away a lot of his motivation to bluff on the river. Let's say an ace comes down here, Hikari checks, Mudiay shoves his jack high...becomes really tough for Hikari to call. But now that he has a pair, he might just check it back and lose."

"Fourteen point four million out there, twelve big blinds up for grabs. Big deal for Hikari, she's got a bit more than pot left."

The river card came, a king of clubs.

"So...the flush gets there on the river, a third club comes in the form of a king. Neither player can love that overcard."

Hikari looked over at Mudiay for a few moments, then back to her chipstack.

"Yeah, not exactly the best card in the world for either player, I wouldn't be shocked if it went check-check and Hikari just got to win. Maybe Hikari bets something like six million, try to squeeze out thin value."

"I'm all-in," Hikari announced, waving her right hand forward, scattering a few purple chips forward with her left.

"And...so much for that, Hikari SHOVES for more than pot with second pair, no kicker!"

Mudiay looked back down at his cards for a moment, then over at Hikari.

"Time for Emmanuel to utilize that supposed physical read, if he has it. This certainly LOOKS like a flush the way she played it. Albert, what's the logic here for Hikari? On the surface, this seems like a bad shove."

Hikari continued to play with a handful of chips as Emmanuel considered his decision.

"Piecing the hand together, it's very unlikely Mudiay has clubs, given he checked back the flop. And it's also pretty unlikely he called the turn with king high, so he probably didn't just make top pair either. Possibly, she has correctly figured that she has the best hand."

"She has the best hand, but...can she get called by a worse hand when she shoves for more than pot?"

Mudiay counted out a stack of purple chips, considering it.

"Well...Mudiay hasn't folded yet, so...it's at least a possibility, right? He's got third pair, and...it's possible Hikari just feels like he's capable of calling light. He's certainly made a lot of light calls in this very tournament. I mean, how much of a genius will Hikari look like here if Mudiay calls?"

Mudiay bit down on his lower lip.

"He can't actually call on that river. Flush gets there, king highs make a pair, she certainly has some of those...it's a lot of chips!"

"He can afford it, but...yeah, I don't think that king of clubs is a good card to call on. But Mudiay, he's a frequent non-believer."

"I call," Mudiay announced. Hikari slowly turned over her cards.

"And there it is! Hikari Yagami secures a FULL double-up with nothing but a pair of nines!"

With a small nod, Mudiay folded his cards over to the dealer.

"Wow, I...I'm tempted to call that an absolutely brilliant way of playing that hand, but...I might just be results oriented. I mean, that HAD to be a value bet, right?"

Hikari, amid a round of applause from the bleachers encircling the table, began stacking her new chips.

"I get the sense that she knew exactly what she was doing there, but...only she and her coach can possibly know for sure."

"Either way, Hikari is back above forty big blinds, and has gone from life support to contention, all in one hand!"

OOO

Hikari tossed out a purple chip along with four black ones.

"And we've got a button limp. She's mixing it up."

Hikari glanced over her shoulder at Takeru, smiling for a brief moment, before turning back to the table.

"Three players left, three pretty even stacks. Over seventy blinds for each of them. Queen jack of hearts for Hikari, do you like the button limp from her?"

"Um...not typically. Queen jack suited is good enough to raise with when everyone is this deep, you can call a three-bet if you want to and play in position...but as long as you understand how the limp will be perceived and how it might provoke certain plays from the other players, it's fine."

"It's usually something you see from players who believe themselves to be...the best player at the table. I'm not sure if Hikari thinks that, or if it's true, but, it's good to mix it up sometimes."

David Fant tossed in one purple chip after looking at the ten of spades and nine of clubs.

"It can be a play to reduce variance and keep the pot smaller as well, which is sometimes desirable if you believe you have a skill advantage."

Calvin Galloway threw out a stack of six purple chips and four purples, taking back his big blind of one purple and four blacks.

"Calvin doesn't want to let the limp get through, he raises big with a pair of tens. Ten of clubs, ten of diamonds."

Hikari looked over at the stack of chips Calvin had put out, then back down at her own holdings.

"She's definitely going to call with a hand this good. I guess this is part of the reason why it's good to limp, in case someone wakes up with a big hand like this. You can keep the pot smaller and still see a flop."

Hikari flipped out five purples, allowing David to fold.

"Two players to the flop. Already fifteen million in the pot."

Three of clubs, nine of hearts, eight of spades.

"Rainbow flop, nine-high. Beautiful flop for two tens, and a pretty decent one for queen jack of hearts."

Calvin began to get together chips.

"Calvin has been playing pretty aggressive ever since Mudiay got eliminated a couple rounds ago, definitely trying to push the variance, so when he's actually got something, there's no reason for him to play it slowly."

Calvin tossed out seven purples.

"Seven million. You know, there's one ten left in this deck, and I don't want to get everyone too excited, but...if it falls on the turn, we're talking the nut straight against top set. We could see some real fireworks."

"So you assume that Hikari's calling?"

"She's got two overcards, a gutshot, and a backdoor flush draw, playing against an aggressive opponent who is continuation betting. I think you've got to call."

Hikari plucked seven chips from one of her stacks and tossed in a handful of purples.

"About thirty million in the center, we could have a huge change in the pecking order at the end of this hand. Just an hour ago, these two players seemed like the logical picks to be picked off and leave Mudiay and Fant heads up for the title, and now they're tussling over the chip lead."

A four of hearts hit the turn.

"Another card that seems to offer no real threat to Calvin's pair of tens, but that four does give Hikari a queen high flush draw to go with her overs and gutshot."

"Yeah, wow, she...if she wasn't going to fold the flop, then she's definitely not folding now. I'm not sure if that's a good thing for her, but...way too many good river cards."

Calvin again reached for his chip holdings.

"An hour ago, Hikari was down to twenty big blinds and was almost out of here. She started this hand with over eighty, quite a massive turnaround for the young amateur. Helps to have friends in high places, it would seem. Calvin's the effective stack, just shy of one hundred million. Still very deep here."

Calvin built out a stack of thirteen purples this time, pushing it over to the dealer.

"Yeah, Hikari's certainly not folding for less than half the pot. It's an effective bet to get more value out of two tens, but it's not pricing out the draws. Easy call with this much equity. No reason to raise yet, when players are this deep."

Hikari tossed out a purple chip, then began constructing a small stack of them.

"We're off to the river, a staggering fifty-six million in the pot, this river card is going to tell us an awful lot about the way this tournament wraps up! Hikari needs a queen, jack, ten, or heart."

A six of spades landed on the river.

"No such luck for Hikari, that six does nothing, she's left with queen high."

Once again, Calvin reached down towards his chips, counting out a wager.

"This is one of the most frustrating things in poker, calling down with so much potential, having practically half the deck on your side, and being left with absolute air after committing all these chips."

Calvin ended up building a stack of twenty-three purple chips, making these his wager into the pot.

"Twenty-three million from Mister Galloway, feeling confident with the overpair. And Hikari, holding nothing but queen high, has two choices. I have to believe she's just going to cut her losses and fold, but Calvin has just about pot behind, so it's not impossible that she—"

"I'm all-in," Hikari said.

"And there she goes! She fires all-in as a bluff, right around a pot-sized raise, putting Calvin's tournament life at risk! And what does Galloway want to do with a pair of tens on this board?!"

Calvin looked out of the corner of his eyes at Hikari for a few moments, then back down at his cards.

"What a huge spot. Call, and you're the overwhelming chip leader. Fold, and you hand over an overwhelming chip lead to Hikari, not to mention he would be folding the best hand...but there's not exactly much he can beat, is there?"

"He can beat a bluff, and that's about it. Very easy to imagine that Hikari has a hand like...eight six, rivered two pair. Slowplayed something like nine eight. Five seven and ten seven are both straights, maybe she has those hands of hearts. She's not doing this with a hand like ace nine."

Calvin pursed his lips, looking down at his remaining chips.

"You definitely feel like a moron if you call and she turns over eight six, I'll say that much, especially with this much on the line. Tens are only beating a bluff, and there aren't a ton of bluffs that make a lot of sense. And Calvin has overpair written all over him, so for Hikari to basically say...I know you have an overpair, and I'm still moving in, it's very strong."

Finally, Calvin picked up his cards and tossed them over to the dealer. Hikari reached down towards her cards, turning them over and putting them face up in front of her, looking around impassively as the crowd erupted into cheers.

"And Calvin lets it go, which prompts Hikari to SHOW THE BLUFF! What a turn of events, Hikari takes a massive pot of chips, and Calvin Galloway is now in a distant third place!"

Hikari began to stack her new chips in front of her.

"What a championship-tier play from the young woman, she really read that situation brilliantly!"

OOO

"H-how can you possibly be surprised when a player who is being coached by Takeru Ishida makes a deep run in a significant poker tournament? I mean, I said this before when we were four-handed, but really...maybe you're not afraid of Hikari Yagami the player quite yet, but I'm sure everyone she's played in this tournament is aware she's being taught by the best in the world. She probably is a very good player, and we just don't yet have a full picture of how good since she's so young."

Fant tossed in four purple chips.

"We're heads up for over three hundred thousand dollars here, Hikari Yagami with a decently-sized chip lead over David Fant. This title's obviously a big deal for both players, not just in terms of money, but in terms of career prestige. Hikari was the short stack with four left, but she's really turned it around with a couple of big hands."

Hikari, after a few moments, placed three purple chips in on top of two that were already in.

"Okay, so we've got a button raise from David Fant with the ace seven offsuit, Hikari defends with king eight offsuit. Hikari started this hand with just over a hundred big blinds, David with seventy-five, so we're very very deep."

Four of diamonds, two of diamonds, five of hearts.

"Baby flop, two diamonds, neither player makes a pair. Hikari has a backdoor king high flush draw, she's got the king of diamonds, and David has the gutshot thanks to the ace."

Hikari tapped the table a few times, prompting David to reach down towards his chips.

"And don't be surprised if David bets and Hikari calls. She's got two overs, a backdoor flush draw, and in a circumstance like this, king-high CAN be the best hand pretty reasonably. She can call and re-assess on the turn."

"Yeah, that king of diamonds might just shift the balance towards making a call. David can absolutely raise the button and then continue with something like nine ten or jack nine, all sorts of hands that king high is ahead of."

Armed with five purples and five blacks, David made a half-pot wager.

"Half pot, five and a half million, I think Hikari's gonna peel once here. If she didn't have the diamond, I think she'd fold, but those little bits of extra equity really matter when you're heads up."

Hikari tossed one purple chip towards the dealer, then began to chase it with the remaining four and a half million.

With the pot now bloated to twenty-two million, the dealer slapped down a jack of hearts.

"There's a brick, ace high is still the best hand...I would expect it to go check-check here, actually."

Hikari pressed her index finger into the felt a couple times, playing with a couple black chips in her palms.

"Yeah, if Hikari has a pair, she's never folding and I think David knows that, so...he'd get called every time he's behind and he'd likely fold out everything he currently has beat. Showdown value, plus a bad gutshot, I like the check."

David tapped his fingers on the felt a couple times as well.

"Alright, Hikari needs a king or an eight to take the lead. She might be able to win the pot with a bluff on a lot of blanks."

A three of diamonds completed the board.

"Okay, so...David makes a straight, but not a particularly strong one. He's the got ace on a two three four five board. Can't beat a six, and the diamond flush draw just came in."

Hikari stared down at the board for a few moments, then reached down towards her chips.

"Yeah, Hikari has about the worst hand she's ever going to have here, so she's going to try bluffing at this. But whatever she does, it has to be big, and I think she's aware of that. David has an ace here a large percentage of the time here, I think."

"Do you like trying to bluff here? Do you think Fant is folding an ace often enough to make it worth it?"

"I'm not a big fan of it, really...I'd probably just give up here. I don't see David folding very often here, and it makes a ton of sense for him to have an ace, so I'd probably just let the pot go."

Two full stacks of purple chips went forward.

"Wow, I might have to...take that back, Hikari bets just less than DOUBLE the pot! That is a MASSIVE bet, and it's not a comfortable bet to be calling with just the wheel on this board."

David pried the corners up on his cards again, then looked at the double stack of purple chips.

"Forty million into twenty two million, I think it's safe to say that...Hikari knows that Fant likely has an ace, and believes she has to bet this big to have any chance of actually taking him off it."

"He can't beat a six, and he can't beat the diamond flush. What's the leveling war like in a hand like this?"

Hikari continued to stare down at the board as David pondered his decision.

"It really does look like Hikari is saying, I know you have the straight, I just made my flush, so I'm trying to get maximum value. And if you're sitting in David's seat, you know that really looks like you might have the bad end of the straight, so...it's really tough. It LOOKS like he has the straight, she's still betting double the pot, how can you feel good about it?"

"Yeah, he's definitely only beating bluffs. There aren't exactly a ton of bluffs left with the diamonds coming in."

David slid his cards over to the dealer.

"Wow, he lays down the straight, that's...great bet. Great sizing to accomplish what she wanted. Brilliant play. Her chip lead continues to climb!"

"Yeah, that took some serious heart, betting that much in that situation."

OOO

~Hikari~

"I call," Hikari said, flipping her cards over and standing to her feet. Ace of hearts, ten of diamonds.

"Alright, we got a flip," David said, turning over the four of diamonds and four of clubs, standing up as well. "You've played amazing today, by the way. Whatever happens here, I just wanna say it, because I have a feeling it's not gonna go well for me."

Hikari turned towards the railing behind her, looking over at Takeru for a moment, before turning back towards the table. "Thank you, you played great too." She put her hands in her pockets. "You started this hand with like, fifty million, right?"

"A little less," he answered. "Close."

"You win this, you're right back in it," Hikari said, as the dealer prepared to put out a flop.

Queen of spades, five of spades, ten of clubs.

The crowd erupted as Hikari took a commanding lead in the hand. She spun around, putting her fist up in the air, then turned back towards the table for a moment. "No runners!" she called out, turning towards the railing and walking towards it, looking at Takeru. "No runners! Four or nothing!"

"If this holds, you sure as hell earned it!" Takeru called out, looking almost as excited as he would if it had been him on the verge of winning a title.

The burn and turn produced the five of diamonds, pairing the board and changing nothing.

Grimacing, David nodded. "I did get two-outed out of event one a couple weeks ago, so I am owed a two-outer!" he pointed out. "Got two-outed for the chip lead and everything!"

"Second place is pretty good," Hikari called out over the building roar of the crowd. "Pretty good. Just saying."

A jack of clubs completed the board. Hikari thrusted her hand high into the air, jumping up a good three feet off the ground, as the crowd exploded. Sure enough, Takeru vaulted the rail and made his way over to the new circuit champion.

"See, nothing to it!" Takeru called out over the cheers of the crowd, skipping up into her and wrapping his arms around her.

"No kidding!" she replied. "If I knew how easy this was, I never would have respected you so much for being good at it!"

Takeru wrapped her up in a hug, pulling her back towards the table, towards the three large bricks of cash and platinum finger ring in the middle of it. He scooped up the small piece of jewelry, examining it for a moment. "Always wondered what these feel like!"

Hikari broke away from Takeru for a moment to go over to David Fant, reaching out to shake his hand. "Great playing, you did really well!"

David nodded. "Enjoy it!"

Hikari swung back over towards the table, sticking her right hand out towards him. Slowly, delicately, he slid the ring onto her finger.

"You've bought me a lot of rings over the last couple months," Hikari said. "But this one feels different, somehow!"

"It feels like success!" Takeru suggested, wrapping his arms around her again and lifting her up into the air. Their lips locked together in a kiss, which he felt for a few moments before setting her back down.

"Miss Yagami, congratulations." Hikari finally looked behind her, the tournament director standing there in a suit, holding a microphone. "You played phenomenally well to win this prestigious circuit event, you deserve every last dollar of the prize money."

"Oh, you think this was something?" Takeru replied before Hikari could, wrapping his right arm around her shoulders. "Just wait until you see what she does tomorrow!"

OOO

AN: Thank you all for reading the entirety of this story. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I have one or two other future projects in mind, though I'm not yet sure when they will be produced. Again, thank you all for reading nearly four hundred thousand words of my works.


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